Unbreakable
by nissanity
Summary: Sequel Story to "Friends with Benefits" - - NanoFate, Mature Content
1. Chapter 1 - Family Matters

**A/N:** Hello to everyone who has joined this sequel story to _Friends with Benefits_. For those who have not read the original story in this series, I recommend you do so first. I changed the secondary tag from 'comedy' to 'drama' this time, since the second arc will be more focused on the emotional aspects of the characters' experiences. Also, the day count will most likely play a bigger part in this portion of story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

****UNBREAKABLE****

by : ~Nissanity~

****Chapter 1 – _Family Matters_****

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_~Day 1~_

It was not the feeling of her presence, but the recognition of her absence, that caused Nanoha to reach into emptiness in the bed beside her. When her hand failed to find Fate's soft skin, her blue eyes fluttered open to discover the space previously occupied by her lover was now inexplicably vacant. With the white cotton sheet held up against her bare chest, Nanoha rose to a sitting position and stared across the void beside her in perplexity. She knew sunrise was not for another hour, and the alarm clock was set for thirty minutes after that.

Soft light emitted from the hallway and spilled under the gap of the closed bedroom door. Nanoha could also hear cabinets opening and closing in the kitchen, providing the answer to Fate's whereabouts that early morning. Once the aroma of brewed coffee had made its way to linger throughout the house, Nanoha moved the covers off her body and rose from the bed, her curiosity overriding any attempts to return to sleep that morning.

After retrieving her salmon-colored housecoat from the hook on the bathroom door, she made her way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. Just as she passed Vivio's bedroom, she could hear the faint sound of humming coming from the other end of the house. Rarely did Fate sing or hum in front of others, but Nanoha would occasionally have the pleasure of hearing a melody emitted from the husky-voiced woman.

"Good morning, Fate-chan," she said in the entrance of the dining room. To her surprise, she found Fate fully dressed in her Enforcer uniform. The black jacket and skirt were crisp and pristine from the care Nanoha had taken in ironing them. She looked good that morning. She always looked good in her uniform.

Fate looked away from the holographic screen in front of her. "Good morning, Nanoha. You're up early?"

Nanoha smiled back at her and exited the doorway. "Hmmm, I think that's my line."

Fate leaned back in her chair and waited until Nanoha had wrapped her arms around her shoulders from behind. She then hummed contently when she felt her kiss on her cheek.

"I was called in to work today," she said as Nanoha looked over her shoulder at the screen. "There was some sort of threat that came in overnight. They want the Enforcers on leave to provide extra security for the conference."

"Well, that explains why you're up so early," Nanoha replied when she noticed that Fate was to report for work at 5:30AM. "I'm going to steal some of your coffee, by the way."

"That's fine. I made plenty."

After entering the kitchen, Nanoha searched the sink for any dirty dishes that Fate might have used for breakfast that morning. Not finding any in sight, she retrieved a package of instant oatmeal from the cabinet and prepared it in the microwave. Once it was heated, she topped it with fresh blueberries and a few dashes of vanilla before returning to the dining room with it.

"Well, that answers that," Fate said when Nanoha placed the oatmeal directly in front of her. "I was wondering what you were heating up in there."

"I would have made you something better if I had more time, but you have to leave in a few minutes."

"You still spoil me," she replied after the first bite. "What am I going to do without you on my next mission?"

Nanoha attempted the best smile she could as she sat down at the table, pushing away any hint of sadness she felt with the thought of her leaving again. "You're going to take care of yourself, that's what. By the way, did you need a ride to work this morning?"

Fate tried to finish chewing before answering. "Teana offered to pick me up," she said. "She'll be here any minute, actually. Are you sure you don't want to try to get some more sleep this morning?"

"No, I really shouldn't. I've taken the past two weekends off and we have the conference today. There's a lot I need to do before work even starts."

"That's too bad. I guess things are back to normal for you, huh?"

"Well, that's not entirely true," Nanoha replied and leaned in Fate's direction. "Some things have gotten a lot better."

Fate smiled and returned the gesture, bringing her forehead to rest against Nanoha's. She studied the face so close to hers and noted the ocean blue eyes were now looking at her expectantly. She leaned in first, causing Nanoha to take a breath in anticipation. Their lips had nearly met when Fate received a sudden alert from Bardiche. She silently cursed it and pulled away, the atmosphere between them evaporating in an instant. Nanoha did her best to not sulk at the interruption.

"Teana's here."

"Okay. Don't worry about the dishes. I'll clean them up," Nanoha said.

Fate finished her oatmeal and coffee as quickly as she could before heading to the front entryway of their home. Just as she opened the door and took a step outside, Nanoha reached for her hand and pulled her back in to kiss her goodbye. Fate had to laugh a little at her misstep afterward.

"I'm sorry, Nanoha. I almost forgot."

"You did forget," she countered before letting her go again. "But that's alright. I don't mind reminding you."

"I appreciate it," Fate said as she began to walk into the darkness of the morning. "I'll see you at work."

"See you there, Fate-chan."

Nanoha sighed and took a sip of her coffee with her back pressed against the now closed front door. She then counted on her hand how days she had left with Fate before her next mission started - - the answer was four.

_I'm used to this, though,_ she reminded herself. _It's been this way for years now._

After stopping briefly outside of Vivio's door to ensure she was still asleep, Nanoha returned to her empty bedroom. The sight of the unmade bed looked tempting to return to, but her vision soon trailed over to the nightstand beside the bed. Raising Heart was pulsing white intermittently, signaling that Nanoha had a transmission of her own waiting for her.

"Did I need go in early, too?" she wondered out loud while crossing the room to retrieve her device.

Once she motioned for the ruby org to bring up her holographic screen, she was immediately greeted by the sight of her mother's paused face in a new video message. Nanoha's hand hovered mid-air as she searched for the timestamp on it, noticing that it arrived the previous evening while she and Fate had been in bed together. She slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, close to the original spot where she had filmed her confession video days prior. Her hands started to feel clammy from the sense of nervousness beginning to fill her.

_Well, here goes nothing_, she thought as she pressed the play button. In the video, her mother first cleared her throat and then waved several times to the camera before beginning to speak - -

"_Hello, Nanoha. I'm sorry it took so long to respond to you. Your father and I were very busy at the cafe this weekend. I gave Miyuki your message congratulating her, and she said thank you. Alisa and Suzuka stopped by the cafe this weekend too, and they wanted to me to say hi to you and Fate for them. So, about the second part of your message you sent..."_

Nanoha took a deep breath in an attempt to gather her courage, something her mother did simultaneously on the screen. She couldn't help but chuckle at the shared gesture afterward. She then had to wonder just how much she was turning into her mother every day.

"_I will admit, it surprised us to hear of your preference for women. It's not something your father and I are against, of course. We both want you to be happy, more than anything else in the world. It's just that we've never heard you mention anything about it before. There really wasn't any doubt about it after your last message though, considering that we could see Fate laying naked behind you the whole time."_

"W-What?" Nanoha stammered and hit the pause button in a panic. She turned back and forth repeatedly to where Fate would have been laying in bed that night. Sure enough, the camera angle would have picked up on that section of the bed behind her. She groaned loudly and hit the play button again. She then buried her head in her hands in sheer embarrassment.

"_You didn't mention Fate's name in the video specifically," _her mother went on to say,_ "but I can assume that you're choosing to pursue a relationship with her, correct?_"

When Nanoha heard a heavy sigh come from the video, she pulled her hands away from her face to look at the screen again. She found that her mother now held a somewhat troubled expression, filling her with a sense of dread over what might be coming next.

"_I don't know, Nanoha... I just don't know. I would be lying if I said it didn't concern me. You know our family loves and cares for Fate like one of our own. But you've also told me that she's gone on missions more often than she's home, and how hard that is on you and Vivio already. Are you sure you want add romance to that type of situation? Honestly, I don't want to see you end up in an unhappy relationship when you have other options to - "_

"End transmission, Raising Heart."

Nanoha sat motionless on the edge of the bed, her mind now reeling and her stomach turning in knots. She knew her mother had no ill-will towards Fate, and that her words stemmed from a genuine concern for her daughter. But that didn't make the statements any easier to digest. She stared down at her hands that were now gripping the comforter so tightly, her knuckles were beginning to turn white. The thought of ending it with Fate, so soon after it had only just begun between them, was enough to bring bitter tears to her eyes.

_I will never tell Fate-chan what my mother said_, she resolved in her mind. _This is the one thing she can never know._

**oOOOo**

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Fate began her journey with Teana on the empty roads of Cranagan towards their destination across town. Without Nanoha's presence to occupy her time and thoughts, she was able to revisit the incident with Ginga that had occurred the day before. It was the first time the two of them had ever had any sort of confrontation, and Fate now struggled with a way to make it right between them.

Teana observed her passenger shifting uncomfortably in the seat beside her. "Something wrong over there?" she asked.

"Have you talked to Ginga since yesterday?"

"No, but I did talk to Subaru. She said Ginga was pretty shut down after they left headquarters. She didn't really want to talk about what happened."

Fate could feel sadness and guilt welling up inside her. "I'll try talking to her today, if she'll let me. I want her to know that I'm not upset with her. I know I only reacted that way because Nanoha was involved."

"Hopefully she'll understand," Teana replied. "Everyone's emotions have just been running pretty high lately."

After arriving at headquarters, the two exited Teana's car and walked across the parking lot in silence. Fate looked to the sky and noticed a line of dark clouds approaching along the horizon. The air felt sticky and heavy that Monday morning, a stark contrast to the sunny weather she had enjoyed with Nanoha and her family that weekend.

The main lobby was a sea of black while the Enforcers waited for their security assignments that morning. Fate scanned the group twice, both times failing to see her blue-haired teammate anywhere among the crowd. When she spotted Hayate crossing the lobby, she jogged in her direction and flagged her down to speak to her.

"Good morning, Fate."

"Hey, Hayate. Good morning. I was just curious if you knew where Ginga is, by chance? We're about to receive our assignments for today and she's not here yet."

Hayate's expression immediately turned serious. "I'm sorry, Fate. Ginga was temporarily reassigned to desk work here at headquarters for now. After the incidents with you and Nanoha, the Council think it's best if she has some distance for a while."

"Distance?" Fate repeated in disbelief. "Is that really necessary?"

"It is from the Bureau's standpoint. At least until things calm down. The last thing we need is for an Enforcer to get hurt because of distractions like this."

Teana heard the entire conversation from a few feet away. "It's probably a good idea, honestly," she said to Fate. "It'll be tough without her around, but it could be dangerous with the way things are right now."

Fate tried to shake her head in frustration at herself and the situation, but Hayate placed a hand on her shoulder to try to reassure her. "Don't worry so much. It's nothing personal against her. Sometimes people just need time and space to get over things. It's not always a bad thing."

"Okay," Fate replied with reluctance. "But if you see her, will you at least tell her I'm sorry about what happened between us?"

Hayate grinned and slapped her on the shoulder in encouragement. "Not a problem, my friend! I'll be sure to do that."

**oOOOo**

Nanoha noticed the sky turning darker as the morning continued to drag on. Outside the numerous windows that lined the hallways of headquarters, she could see a layer of black clouds now completely overhead. It was a disappointing sight, considering how beautiful the weather had been that weekend. Everything had now turned almost ominous at the onset of the conference.

After exiting the elevators on the third floor, Nanoha entered the hallway in route to her office. To her surprise, she spotted Fate hovering in the air outside the nearest window, her back facing the building. Teana was stationed atop one of the building annexes beside her. Both looked bored and were chatting casually across the gap between them. Nanoha noticed Ginga's absence from their post, an unusual sight considering the three almost always worked together. She quickly brushed it off, figuring she must be assigned security somewhere else in the complex.

Nanoha then caught sight of Fate smiling in profile, and she couldn't help but stop and stare at the image. At that moment, she looked much younger than her current twenty-two years of age. It reminded her of simpler times they had shared, before the careers and children and other responsibilities had taken hold of their lives.

She opened up a telepathic channel, something the two of them rarely did together anymore. "I see you, Fate-chan," she teased from her spot at the window.

Fate immediately stopped talking to Teana and started looking to the ground beneath her. After a fruitless search, she shook her head and stared out in front of her. "That's not fair, Nanoha," she replied. "You can see me, but I can't see you."

"Oh, that's too bad. I'm appreciating my view, at least."

As Fate turned to face the building, Nanoha hid behind the window divider beside her, just out of her sight. "Your view of what?" Fate then asked, returning her vision in front of her again.

Nanoha peeked her head around the corner to look out the window again. "Of you," she continued, her voice now turning seductive. "You look really good in your Impulse Form, but I wouldn't mind seeing you in your True Sonic Form again. Maybe later tonight?"

The blood immediately rushed to Fate's face in response to the comment. The redness was clearly visible from inside the building, as was her eyes widening at the mention of her most revealing form. Nanoha couldn't help but giggle at the flustered expression she had just helped to create.

"I see you're having fun distracting our best Enforcer out there," came a voice from behind. Nanoha immediately closed the telepathic channel with Fate and spun around. She found Shamal looking out the window next to her with an amused expression on her face.

"H-Hey, Shamal! What's up? How's it going?"

"Oh, everything's fine. I just came up here to see if you had filled out that medical benefits form yet? I still haven't gotten it."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I forgot to turn that in, didn't I?" Nanoha gestured for Shamal to follow her down the hallway. "It's still in my office."

"I know things were a little bit hectic for you last week," she mentioned as they walked. "I hope everything is going okay now, though?"

"Um-hmm. Things are much better," Nanoha replied. Once inside her office, she made her way to her desk and found the form buried under a few other pieces of paper. She was just about to hand it over when she noticed something wasn't entirely correct on it. Not anymore, at least.

"Something wrong?" Shamal asked her.

Nanoha placed the paper back on her desk and reached for a pen in the holder nearby. She first scribbled through the box next to the 'Single' status she had originally marked. She checked off the one below next to 'Domestic Partnership', and then wrote _Fate T Harlaown_ in the designated line beside it.

Shamal's eyes scanned the document once it was in her hands. "Well, what do you know...?" she said affectionately.

"It's not that big of a deal," Nanoha said as she smiled and looked away to the floor. "It just seemed to make sense, you know?"

"It certainly does." When Nanoha's happy expression unexpectedly faded away, the sight did not escape the perceptive doctor. "Is something weighing on your mind, Nanoha?"

"Hmmm?" she replied distractedly, her thoughts now returning to the latest message from her mother. "Oh, it's nothing really. Maybe I'm just wishing that everyone else felt the same way you do."

"Someone doesn't approve of your relationship?"

Nanoha sighed a little. "It's my mother. She thinks that I shouldn't be with Fate-chan. She says it's hard enough already with how much she's gone."

"I see. Well, your mother is always going to worry about you. The best thing you can do is first figure out how _you_ will handle this new relationship with Fate. Once you're sure of that, you can then reassure your mother."

"But I've already been going through this with her. For years now, in fact."

"It's going to be different now, though. Romance can change things quite a bit."

"I don't know... I doubt it will be all that different," Nanoha replied. She paused for a moment, then waved her hand as if to dismiss the thought entirely.

"Okay," was Shamal's only response to the stubborn woman in front of her. "So, I've got to meet Hayate here in a few minutes. I'll make sure to get your benefits information updated for you."

"Thank you, Shamal. I appreciate it."

Once the doctor had exited her office, Nanoha turned her attention to her work again and allowed herself to become completely immersed in it. And for the rest of her day after that, she purposely avoided any thoughts of the conversation she had just had with Shamal about Fate, as well the earlier video message from her mother.

**oOOOo**

The timer for the oven beeped loudly and Nanoha crossed the kitchen to turn it off. As she checked to make sure the dish inside was fully cooked, she took note of the time on the clock above the stove. Fate had not returned yet from work, having to provide added security for the important attendees at the conference. Even though she had been initially disappointed to hear that Fate would be staying late, she tried to remind herself that she was lucky she had time to spend with her at all before she left again on her next mission.

When she heard the front door open and then close again, Nanoha continued preparing dinner while she waited for Fate to find her. She heard her first stop to say hi to Vivio, who was busy doing her homework at the dining room table. Once she had made it to the kitchen, she crossed the room and nearly collapsed against Nanoha in front of the stove. Nanoha couldn't help but laugh in response when she nearly toppled over herself.

"I'm so tired," Fate groaned over her shoulder. "I was flying the whole time today. How was your day?"

"Not too bad. But it's a lot better now that you're home. You made it just in time for dinner."

"It looks great," Fate said as she pulled herself off of her. She retrieved the dinner plates from the cabinet to set the table for them. When she walked into the dining room, Nanoha could hear her ask Vivio to put her schoolbooks away so that they could eat. After a few minutes, she returned to help retrieve the food.

"I feel like the luckiest person in the world," she said suddenly. Nanoha turned to look at her across the room.

"You do?"

"I do. Dinners like this. Coming home and seeing Vivio. But mostly it's because I have you, Nanoha."

Nanoha found herself at a loss for words at Fate's declaration, and she now knew what it felt like to have her heart skip a beat. She also allowed the tears that she had been holding back all day to finally make their appearance. Fate smiled a little at the sight and crossed the room to hug her.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry," she told her in a gentle voice. "I just wanted you to know how happy you make me feel."

"I know," Nanoha replied, her voice muffled against Fate's jacket. "I'm really glad you said that." She then pulled away to wipe her eyes, not wanting to lose her composure completely in the middle of the kitchen. She handed Fate the salad bowl and bread before picking up the main dish herself.

In the dining room, they found Vivio waiting semi-patiently in her chair with an empty plate in front of her. Nanoha spooned a small portion of each dish to her first. She tried to hide her amusement at her daughter's disgusted face directed at the pile of steamed carrots in the corner.

"Eat them," her mother said. Vivio picked up her fork and begrudgingly pushed them around her plate. Nanoha retrieved the last of what was need for dinner and sat down in the chair beside Fate.

"How was training?" Fate asked her daughter.

"We learned about binds today!" she replied with excitement. "I'm not very good at them yet, though."

"Oh, yeah? I was about your age when I started learning them. It took me about three months to get them just right. I practiced on Arf a lot."

"What about you, Mama? How long did it take you?""

Nanoha smiled at thought. "Um... not too long. I used my first one on Fate-chan."

Fate leaned across the table as if to tell Vivio a secret. "She stole the technique from me," she said in a loud whisper. Vivio giggled when Nanoha slapped Fate playfully on the shoulder and pulled her back upright.

"Are you saying I cheated or something?" she asked. She shoved Fate in the shoulder, a gesture Fate returned even harder, nearly knocking Nanoha off her chair. They both laughed together, and soon were poking each other in the sides and finding different ways to tease each other.

Vivio watched her mothers' interactions carefully between her bites of food, noticing that as the dinner continued, the affectionate looks and touches they shared increased. After the third time she watched Fate tickle Nanoha, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you guys together now?" she asked, her tone completely serious.

The parents both stopped cold and stared at Vivio, her question now hanging heavily in the air between them all. Fate eventually shrugged at Nanoha and gestured with her head that she should be the one to tell Vivio. Nanoha poked her hard in the side one last time before turning her attention to her daughter again.

"Well... Yes, actually," her mother told her. "We are together now, as a couple."

"So that's why you guys have been kissing and stuff?"

"Um-hmm," Nanoha replied, her voice sounding increasingly tense. "We were doing that because we like each other very much."

Vivio merely nodded at the answer and returned her attention to her dinner again. Fate and Nanoha shared a cautious glance together, both unsure how they should read their daughter's reaction to the news.

"Are you okay with us being together, Vivio?" Fate eventually had to ask.

"Yep."

"You don't have any problems with it?"

"No, it's okay," the little girl replied. "I like how happy my Mamas are now."

Vivio's simple words of acceptance touched Nanoha immensely, more so than she ever could have ever expected. Fate leaned over to kiss Nanoha on the cheek and reached for her hand under the table, squeezing it once in encouragement. In those shared gestures and words with her family, Nanoha discovered that all the anxiousness she had endured earlier that day seemed to disappear entirely in the light of that perfect moment.

**oOOOo**

Nanoha said goodnight to Vivio one last time before closing the door to her bedroom behind her. She noticed the lights were already off in the rest of the house, a task Fate must have completed while she had been busy putting their daughter to bed. As she made her way down the hall towards her closed bedroom door, she noticed the sound of running water coming from somewhere inside. She entered her bedroom and heard the distinct sound of the tub filling in their attached bathroom. Even though the bed seemed tempting to crawl into after her long day, Nanoha found that the thought of a bath with Fate appealed to her even more.

Once inside the bathroom, she found the small room to be filled with steam. Fate was leaning her back against one side of the tub, her eyes closed and long blonde hair piled in a messy bun on her head. "I'm not safe from Nanoha anywhere," she smiled.

"Nope," Nanoha replied and started removing her uniform. Fate opened one eye to watch her first unbutton her blouse and then unzip her short blue skirt. After she had undressed completely, Fate turned off the faucets and sat up straighter to make room for her in the middle. She was surprised when Nanoha instead sat with her back against the opposite side of the tub.

"You didn't want to sit in front of me?"

Nanoha shook her head and reached into the water to retrieve one of Fate's legs. "If I did, I couldn't do this."

Fate sighed contently when she felt Nanoha begin to massage her calf muscle and the bottom of her foot. "That feels really, really good."

As Nanoha continued to move her hands along Fate's legs, she became lost in thought again over her mother's correspondence that morning. Fate noticed her unusual silence before she spotted Raising Heart resting against her chest.

"Has your mother sent you a message back yet?"

Nanoha nodded, somewhat amazed that she could sense what she was thinking about. "Yes, she did. She actually sent it last night, but I didn't get it until this morning."

"What did she say? Was she okay with you coming out to her?"

"Um-hmm, she was. She said that she and my dad were surprised at first, but that they're fine with it."

"That's good. Did she say anything else?"

Nanoha paused and debated where to take the conversation next. Her mother's doubt over the viability of their relationship had troubled her most of the day, but the last thing she wanted to do was drag Fate into the same depths of worry with her. She also didn't want her to feel attacked or unappreciated because of her mother's words, even if they were spoken with the best of intentions.

"She knows that we're together now," she said instead.

Fate racked her memory, trying to figure out how that was possible. "How did she find out?" she had to ask.

"My parents saw you naked in bed behind me."

"Shut up. No, they didn't."

Nanoha nodded her head earnestly. "They totally did. I swear."

"Oh, god..." Fated groaned and went limp against her side of the tub, letting her arms fall heavily into the water. "Now they probably think I seduced you or something."

"Nyahaha! Fate-chan... No one thinks you seduced me."

"Wait, why not?" Fate asked and stared back at her. "I could have seduced you, Nanoha. If I had really tried to, I mean."

Nanoha only grinned further at her and then sat up in the water. She then turned around completely and scooted back to sit in between her legs. Fate immediately raised her hands to start rubbing her shoulders, eliciting a small moan from her in return. Nanoha focused completely on her muscles unwinding under her firm but careful touch.

"Are you going to respond to the message tonight?" Fate then asked.

Nanoha reopened her eyes slowly and stared blankly at the water below her. She hadn't decided if she was up to sending a response yet, nor had she even considered what she might say to her mother to defend her relationship.

"I don't think so," she eventually replied. "I might wait a couple of days before I do."

"That's understandable."

Nanoha leaned backwards to relax against Fate completely. "I really don't want to worry about that right now. I just want to enjoy this time with you."

Fate wrapped her arms around her and placed small kisses along her shoulder. "Sounds good to me."

"By the way, Shamal knows that we're together."

"Oh, yeah? What did she have to say?"

"She was happy for us," Nanoha replied. "I'm sure she told Hayate, which means everybody at headquarters probably knows, too."

Fate chuckled at the thought. "Well, you know everyone at Velvet does for sure. I told Teana today, too. She said she wasn't surprised at all."

"And what about Ginga?"

Nanoha could feel Fate tense a little at the question. "Ginga was reassigned to desk work for a while. Hayate said the Council thinks she needs some distance from the situation with all of us."

"Oh..." Nanoha responded quietly. The sadness over the loss of her friend and teammate was painfully apparent in Fate's voice. "I'm sorry to hear that, Fate-chan."

"It's okay. Hopefully she'll be back soon."

"I hate to say it, but she probably won't be happy to hear that we're together now."

Fate sighed a little. "Maybe not. But that part doesn't matter."

"It doesn't?"

"No. In a perfect world, everyone would be supportive us and see what we see. But that won't always be the case."

Nanoha turned to face her. "So, what do we do about that?" she asked, her mind returning to her mother yet again.

"Well, there's not much we can do. We can't control what everyone thinks about our relationship. But no one can take away what we have together, either. I know in my heart that I'm meant to be with you, Nanoha. I'll always be yours, and no one will ever change the way I feel about you."

The confidence and sincerity in her words struck a nerve deep inside Nanoha, and it was in that moment she realized Fate truly felt no hesitation in her commitment and dedication to her. It almost seemed to come as natural to her as breathing itself. "You can be really romantic sometimes, you know that?" she whispered.

Fate smiled in return but said nothing, instead reaching up to touch her along her cheek at first. She moved her fingertips across her lips next before trailing them across her collarbones and down towards her stomach. Her eyes never left Nanoha's though, no matter where her hand moved across her soft skin.

Nanoha closed her eyes when Fate leaned in to kiss her, their parted lips beginning to moving together in sync. It felt more intimate than any kiss they had shared previously, leaving Nanoha feeling as if her emotions had almost been rubbed raw inside of her. She found herself wanting to simultaneously smile and cry the more she dissolved under Fate's touch. She finally had to pull away to catch her breath and to find her balance again.

"Why don't we go to bed?" she suggested when she noticed the bathwater had become tepid. Fate agreed to the idea and exited the bathtub after she did. They both took turns playfully drying each other off while standing on the rug in the middle of the floor. Fate eventually wrapped a towel around Nanoha before doing the same for herself.

It wasn't until they had exited the bathroom did they realize it was pouring down rain outside. Just as they made beside their bed, lightening flashed brightly outside their bedroom windows. A few seconds later, a loud crack of thunder followed suite. Fate flinched slightly in response to both.

"Is that going to bother you tonight?" Nanoha asked, referring to the electricity lingering in the air that Fate was sensitive to.

"It might, if the storm gets any worse."

"I won't keep you up then," she said as she removed her towel and turned off the light overhead. Fate laid down first in the middle of the bed so that Nanoha could come to rest against her. She was the first to surrender to her tiredness after the long day she had endured.

"This feels really good," she murmured, her voice already hazy.

"It does," Nanoha replied and nuzzled into her shoulder further. "I like it when we hold each other like this."

"By the way, I have to work again tomorrow," Fate then mentioned.

"Have they told you anything about your next mission?"

"Not yet," she replied. "They said they would tell us the details tomorrow morning."

Nanoha ran her fingers up and down Fate's arm. "I really wish you didn't have to leave again," she said quietly.

Fate reopened her eyes when she thought she heard a loneliness in Nanoha's voice that had never been present before. She searched for the words that might bring her comfort, but soon found herself coming up short. It wasn't that she was unable to speak like the few times before. She just didn't have anything to say that could help lessen the pain of her leaving.

Another flash of lightening struck outside, feeling like tiny pin pricks on Fate's skin. Between the thunderstorm and the sense of Nanoha's sadness, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. She surprised Nanoha by leaning down to kiss her again, the gesture replacing the ominous mood with a more passionate one. She eventually turned them both and came to rest on top of her.

"Fate-chan...?"

Fate held herself above her, gently pushing Nanoha's hair away from her face and running her hand along her cheek. "I wish I didn't have to go either," she said. "Let's just try to enjoy the time we have together until then."

Nanoha nodded and pulled her head into her shoulder. She could feel Fate begin to slowly move against her, and as her body responded, Nanoha felt the worry and angst that had consumed her that day now fading away. She clutched and pressed her fingers into Fate's shoulders with every shift and thrust they shared, catching glimpses of her above in the intermittent flashes of lightening through the window. As they continued to push each other closer to their limits, they both breathed hard and clung to each other desperately. They both wanted more, needed more from each other than they ever had before.

After their bodies were spent and they had succumbed to their exhaustion, they continued to hold on to each other. Fate fell asleep first, her lover's warmth and comfort enveloping her completely. Nanoha held her close and listened the sound of the rain, now coming down much lighter since the thunderstorm had passed. Just before she closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall into her own peaceful sleep, she felt words being to surface from inside. They were ones she didn't even realize had been lying in wait.

"I love you..." she whispered that night. She froze immediately after the words had found their voice and left her mouth. She knew she had said those same three words hundreds of times before, even to the woman lying right next to her.

But now, for the first time in her life, they held a new and completely different meaning.

* * *

**A/N: **See you all soon ~Nissanity~


	2. Chapter 2 - That Small Voice Inside

**A/N:** Hello to everyone who may (or may not) be familiar with myself and my stories. I know it has been over a year since I put anything out on the site. I have had some huge transitions in my life that took up a majority of my time. The first thing that happened is that I joined the United States Navy. Crazy news, huh? I went through boot camp at the beginning of this year and I am now stationed at a naval base north of Chicago. But something even more remarkable happened in my life - I married my beautiful wife Melissa in March of this year! A lot has changed on my end, but one thing that has not faltered this entire time is my love for NanoFate. So without further ado, let's pick up where we left off last time, shall we? :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

****UNBREAKABLE****

by : ~Nissanity~

****Chapter 2 – _That Small Voice Inside (Part 1)_****

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_The porcelain white teapot, the centerpiece of a beautiful and intricately-designed antique Japanese tea set, clanged and clattered against the aluminum serving platter as Nanoha struggled to open the heavy bedroom door. After clumsily but successfully maneuvering herself and the tray through the doorway, she was surprised to find the room's other occupant inexplicably rummaging through her closet on the opposite side of the room._

_An avalanche of clothing and shoes had spilled onto the floor, coming to rest at Fate's bare feet. She was forced to straddle the objects in the pile, while the upper portion of her body was bent over and leaning into the small closet space. Nanoha knew her best friend had not heard her reenter the room yet. If she had, she would have rushed to her side immediately to help lessen the load in her hands._

_Nanoha gently placed the tray on the top of the kotatsu in the middle of the room. She then exhaled a sigh of relief that the delicate dishware had made it through the house, up two sets of stairs, and into the bedroom in one piece. Using the fragile tea set had been Lindy's idea. Nanoha's first return to the home after the near fatal incident was a cause for elegance and celebration, the older woman had claimed. The recovering mage would have been just as happy with the usual mismatched mugs, electric water heating pot, and cheap tea bags that afternoon. But she did not protest Lindy's insistence, of course. She immediately took the ornate tray into her hands and made the careful trip through the home towards her second floor destination. _

_As Nanoha began to place the dishes strategically around the tabletop, her companion continued to search her closet for reasons known only to her at the moment. She couldn't help but laugh to herself when she heard the husky-voiced teenager across the room mumble unintelligible things under her breath._

"_It should be under... ah, here it is..."_

_When Fate finally turned around, she gave a start to find Nanoha had reentered the room without her realization. The petite copper-haired girl had her arms crossed and eyebrows raised poignantly in her direction, although the amused look in her eyes deceived her stance. Her vision then trailed down to Fate's left hand. She was currently clutching a large black duffel, and Nanoha was sure she saw the blond's knuckles turn white as her grip tightened on the handle. _

"_Going somewhere, Fate-chan?" _

_Fate nodded but turned her eyes away, almost as if she had been caught in a deceitful act and was suddenly ashamed of herself. "Yeah, um..."_

_The gesture and guarded response caused Nanoha's playful demeanor to change significantly "What is it?" she asked, her tone now laced with worried. What could have possibly happened in the ten minutes she was gone, she had to wonder._

_"I just got a message from Bardiche. There's an emergency on one of the administrated worlds nearby. I'm supposed to report to headquarters right away."_

_Nanoha's eyes began to sparkle brightly again at the news, her smile returning just as magnificently. "Your first mission?! Fate-chan, that's great! It's sudden, but... Wow, so you're leaving now then? You need to hurry up and pack!"_

"_Um-hmm," the Enforcer responded, although her remorseful eyes next turned to the tea set resting on the kotatsu. The fragrance of brewed green tea had filled the bedroom, and after all the work Nanoha and her mother had done to set up their afternoon together, she was upset she was going to miss it._

_Nanoha cocked her head to the side as she assessed Fate's lackluster response regarding her first assignment. She then followed her train of sight to the refreshments on the table. She paused for a second before letting out a laugh._

"_Fate-chan, seriously? Nyahaha! You're being so silly. Don't worry about the tea. This is... It's everything you have worked so hard for. I'm so happy for you!"_

_Nanoha's cheerful and supportive mood was infectious. Fate pushed aside feelings of guilt over their spoiled afternoon together and joined her best friend in the excitement. She quickly dropped the duffel bag onto her bed and returned to her closet, now tasked with filling it with clothes and other necessities for the upcoming trip._

_The first few pairs of jeans were tossed from across the room in careless haste, both landing in heaps outside of the duffel bag. Nanoha moved to the opposite side of the bed and thoughtfully laid out each pair on top of the comforter. She had just finished folding the second set of jeans and packing them neatly on the bottom of the bag when three t-shirts sailed in her direction next. _

"_Any idea how long the mission will be?" she asked as she carefully folded the shirts._

"_No. Not yet. They said they would tell us more in the briefing."_

_Nanoha nodded in response, a gesture Fate didn't catch with her back turned towards her. She watched in amusement as the normally reserved girl rushed around the small space in a frantic state, as if everything in her neatly organized room was suddenly misplaced and she was struggling to locate all the items she needed._

"_I can practically feel you vibrating, Fate-chan. You must be nervous."_

_The words seemed to briefly take Fate out of her frenzied state of mind. She spun around and pouted her lips defiantly. "I'm not nervous, Nanoha."_

"_Really, no nervousness?"_

_Fate's cheeks puffed out further. "No. None."_

_Nanoha hummed thoughtfully, pretending to accept the answer as truth. She then raised one eyebrow suspiciously and peered at Fate from the corner of her eye."So you're not nervous at all?" _

"_No. I mean, n-not really. Well... I guess, maybe a little bit," she finally admitted."But not because I'm scared or anything. It's just... It's my first mission and I'm not sure what to expect, you know?"_

_Fate tried to shrug off her fears and silently walked a few pairs of white socks towards the duffel bag. Nanoha was quick to take them from her hands and set them down on the bed before she could throw them into the bag. _

"_You're going to do great," Nanoha assured her. "I know it. I'm so proud of you and everything you've done so far. I hope you know that."_

_The blond nodded in acknowledgment, only it wasn't just in response to the encouraging words she was receiving. There was a sadness that tinged Nanoha's voice, hints of longing that Fate could hear loud and clear. The attack that nearly ended Nanoha's life was still fresh on both of their minds, even if the physical wounds had mostly healed now. She crossed the room to stand in front of Nanoha, placing a hand gently above her elbow._

"_Someday you'll be right there fighting beside me again, Nanoha. You've already recovered this much. It's just a matter of time."_

_Nanoha reached to cover Fate's hand with her own and turned to face her ever-supporting friend. "No," she said with a firm shake of her head. "I'm meant for something else. I'll still be in the sky, but with a different role in life now. And that's fine. These things happen for a reason."_

_Without warning, Fate drew Nanoha into an unexpected hug."Thank you for everything," she said quietly beside her ear. _

_The smaller teenager's eyes widened in surprise at the gesture, although she was equally happy to return the embrace. "What is there to thank me for, Fate-chan?"_

"_For helping make today possible. I wouldn't be an Enforcer right now if it wasn't for you."_

_Nanoha's small shoulders shook a little as she chuckled at the statement. Fate could feel her frailty beneath her hands as she held her close. Her best friend had lost significant muscle mass following the months of bed rest and rehabilitation. Nanoha pulled away slightly to face her companion but left her arms wrapped around her neck, making sure she had the blond's full attention for the moment. Fate moved her hands to rest on the top of her hips in return._

"_I hardly think I helped with anything, Fate-chan. You failed the test twice because of me. You should be running away if that's the kind of help I give you."_

_The burgundy eyes narrowed a little with determination. "I don't regret the way things happened, Nanoha. Your happiness comes first to me. It always will."_

_Nanoha couldn't help but hold her breath for a moment. The sincerity conveyed in Fate's features and words often had that effect on her. It was always in those special times they shared she felt truly blessed to have Fate in her life, someone who cared so much for her that she were willing to sacrifice everything just to see her happy. And her feelings completely mirrored Fate's in return. Had the roles been reversed, she was sure the outcome would have been very similar and she would have regretted nothing._

_Finally to break the tension between them, she patted Fate lightly on the shoulder. "Okay, enough of that. You need to finish packing or you'll be late."_

_The words snapped the new Enforcer out of the trance she seemed to have fallen into. She stepped away from the bedside and looked to her watch, then hurried back to her closet again. "Ahhh, you're right! I have to be at headquarters in twenty minutes."_

_Nanoha packed everything that was being tossed in her direction again, this time matching Fate's accelerated pace. "Um-hmm! Today's the day everything changes for you, Fate-chan. For both of us!"_

**oOOOo**

_~Day 2~_

"_-ssmision, Sir... Incoming Transmission, Sir."_

It was the brief moment on the edge between sleep and consciousness that Nanoha was perched precariously on. Her mind felt clouded, unable to process what was happening exactly. She knew something out of the ordinary had caused her to wake. She felt disoriented. She couldn't tell where she was or which direction her body was even facing. The feeling was less than pleasant.

She lay still and stared at the nightstand behind her. Her bedroom. In her bed. It was three minutes before her alarm was supposed to go off. Distantly, she thought she heard the sound of water falling. She wondered if it was a continuation of the storm from the previous evening outside her bedroom window. But she soon realized it was the sound of the shower running. Fate must already be up for the day.

Armed with enough information to gather her surroundings, Nanoha sat up in bed and looked around the still darkened bedroom. Her device was resting on a white cloth on her nightstand beside her, the orb faintly illuminated by the red numbers from the alarm clock behind it. She grasped it in her hand and stared down at it.

"Yes... What, Raising Heart?" she grumbled.

A brief pause before the orb emitted a soft pink hue. "_Master, the transmission was received by Bardiche."_

Nanoha pushed disheveled bangs out of her eyes and off her forehead. "Bardiche?" she repeated, her tone much softer now. A bright yellow glow appeared and lit the bedroom significantly.

"_Yes, Sir,_" came the mechanical response from the other nightstand.

Nanoha's heart began to pound in her chest so fierce it was audible in her ears. Messages from Bardiche at that time of the morning never had a happy outcome. It was always the first in a cumulative chain of events that had only one conclusion - - Fate was leaving to another planet, maybe even another galaxy, to place her life on the line to protect people she had never met before. Who didn't even know her name.

_No, not yet... Please. _

Her throat felt raw from a combination of sleep and sudden apprehension. She licked her lips and swallowed hard to help combat her dry mouth. "Is it an emergency, Bariche?" she then asked. It was a question she didn't really want the answer to. She wasn't prepared for this. Not yet.

Another pause as the device gathered more data. "_No, Sir,_" it eventually replied. "_Informational only at this time._"

Nanoha sighed loudly and fell back against her pillow. When had the feeling of excitement turned to dread when Fate received 'the call' at all hours of the night? She was sure it had been a gradual shift. She closed her eyes and tried to recall the first time the Enforcer had been summoned for an unexpected assignment. That's right - - it was summer, and they were still young teenagers that time. The atmosphere in the bedroom that afternoon was almost electric with anticipation of Fate's first mission. Nanoha was beyond excited for her best friend, who was in turn equally excited for herself.

Fate's uncertainty about her career was there from the very beginning as well. It didn't take much intuition to realize the sensitive mage was plagued with guilt, constantly leaving Nanoha behind while she flew away to save the universe. Growing up, the two had discussed all the ways they could help people together. But after Nanoha was nearly killed, Fate made grand attempts to sabotage her chance at becoming an Enforcer. Not once but _twice_ she failed the certification tests while Nanoha was in the hospital. It may not have been a conscious decision on her part, but Nanoha knew Fate was afraid to succeed. Not without her best friend by her side every step of the way.

Yet Nanoha was far more stubborn. She constantly pushed Fate to the brink of success and then waiting patiently for her to take that final step on her own. It wasn't as if she wanted Fate to leave, of course. She missed her terribly every day she was gone, and she had experienced her fair share of sleepless nights in her absence. Weeks would often pass when Fate was not allowed to send transmissions home for security reasons. But it was a necessary evil to fulfill a life's dream, one that Nanoha accepted as inevitable to this point.

Last night she slipped, though. For the first time in their lives together, she told Fate she didn't want her to go. And the emotional response Nanoha had just experienced to 'the call' that morning had been different from any time before. It hurt. An inexplicable distress that turned her stomach in knots. But what was most frustrating was she that felt pathetic. Weak. The idea that she was struggling to control her own emotions was downright infuriating.

She feared how she would outwardly respond to Fate now. The words of encouragement she was destined to say in the next few days would most likely ring hollow. The excitement over the next big adventure might sound insincere. And the thought of restless nights in this bed, with only her fretful thoughts to keep her company from now on, was enough to bring a sting to her eyes even at that moment.

Nanoha wanted to beg her to stay. To find a way out. She wanted to be selfish and keep her new lover to herself for just a little while longer. The few short days left would soon pass and Fate would be gone again. The thought burned and pricked at her soul, like someone was stealing precious time away from them when they were barely beginning their new life together.

To top it off, there was that damned confession the night before. Nanoha brought her hands to her face to cover the frustrating groan now escaping her lips. The words had tumbled from her mouth as if they held a life of their own.

"_I love you..._"

It was love, wasn't it? It was a question she knew she needed to confirm first and foremost. Even in her inexperience, she knew there was a vast difference between love and being _in_ love. But that line between them had been blurred a long time ago. She could recognize that now. There was the possibility that she had always been in love with her best friend, starting from the very first day they met. It would explain a lot of her actions throughout their lives together. Almost everything, if she were being brutally honest with herself.

Yes, it was love. There was no point in denying it anymore. But what should she _do_ with all of these revelations now?

There was the option for Nanoha to blurt out all her fears of loneliness to Fate directly. She would just need to be prepared to watch the Enforcer's career fall apart in spectacular fashion. If Fate sensed her work was causing Nanoha unbearable distress, she was sure to find a way to sabotage everything she had worked so hard for. Just as she had attempted to do when they were younger.

Of course that wasn't an option. Nanoha already knew the safest route was to hide these compounding emotions that had blindsided her that morning, to bury them out of sight and do her best to keep them from consuming her completely. Even a love confession was dangerous ground she knew best not to tread yet as well. Those three powerful words had enough potential to derail everything this early in the game between them.

Nanoha sat up in bed and awaited her lover's return once the shower was turned off. The decision of what to do was clear as day - - act as though nothing had changed on her end. Even though it felt like she was hiding a secret from the one person she promised to be open and honest with regardless of circumstance, she accepted the necessity behind it. It was the only way to keep Fate from potentially acting rashly and destructive herself.

Fate soon emerged from the bathroom and walked towards their bed in the still darkened bedroom. Nanoha could hear her searching for the switch to power on the small lamp on her nightstand. Once the room illuminated, Nanoha noted only a white towel was wrapped around Fate's muscular frame, while another held her damp hair on top of her head.

"Oh good, you're up," Fate said quietly in those early morning hours. "I'm surprised to see that you're still in bed, Nanoha." She flashed her a crooked smile next, one sexy enough to make the recipient's heart flutter in her chest. It wasn't until Nanoha looked down at herself did she realize she had never put her pajamas on after their intimate encounter the previous evening.

With Fate standing so close beside her, Nanoha felt her resolve might crumble as quickly as she had restored it. A temptation was lurking, the overwhelming desire to whisk Fate into her arms and demand that she never leave her side again. She needed to escape, and she needed to do so immediately.

"I was just getting up," she said in haste. She quickly swung her feet over the opposite side of the bed and retrieved her pink nightgown hanging from the dresser mirror. Fate looked a little surprised by her reaction but nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's probably a good idea. We don't want to be late for work."

"I'll make us some coffee and get Vivio up," Nanoha declared and moved quickly towards the exit. In just a few short seconds she had left their bedroom and was striding down the hall towards the kitchen, long before Fate could form any sort of response.

**oOOOo**

The new brown suede couch, situated squarely in the middle of the spacious room, beckoned to the exhausted Enforcers as they entered Hayate's office that morning. Fate and Teana both sat down on it heavily, having just finished their extensive pre-mission checks right as this unexpected meeting had been called. They both shared a disappointed look immediately after sitting down. They began to shift around on the thin cushions in unison, searching for a more comfortable spot that was currently eluding them. The couch, despite the inviting appearance, was akin to sitting on a hard concrete bench.

Fate glanced around at Hayate's recently remodeled office. It still smelled faintly of fresh paint, a light tan as the base coat with dark red accent walls. Along with the deceptive couch and the other new pieces of modern furniture placed around the room, a makeshift workstation had been constructed towards the rear of the room. It was unoccupied at the moment.

"Glad to see you like the new couch," Hayate mentioned from behind her desk. The brunette had her chin perched on clasped hands on her desk and was grinning broadly, as if she were enjoying the show.

"We don't," Teana coldly responded. "Why would you buy a couch that's this uncomfortable?"

Signum, Hayate's knight and one of Fate's oldest training partners, was positioned near the doorway with her back pressed firmly against the wall. She grunted and shook her head in disapproval. "I told you not to buy that couch, didn't I?"

"That you did, Signum!" Hayate replied cheerfully. "You are absolutely correct. I'll get my new assistant on it first thing this morning."

Fate helped herself to a cup of coffee from the urn on the table in front of her. She then held it up in the air towards her partner. "Would you like some coffee, Teana?"

The orange-haired woman politely declined the offer by waving her hand. "So, Hayate... I noticed we didn't receive our assignment details this morning like we usually do. Is something wrong?"

Hayate's smile grew even wider. "Oh no, Teana. Nothing is wrong. The Council just finalized the plans a few minutes ago, in fact. My assistant will be here soon with hard copies for all of us to review. Carim should be joining us shortly as well."

Fate sensed the scope of this mission was most likely going to be ranked 'critical', just as the JS Incident had been a few years prior. The sheer number of high ranking officials, both currently commissioned and now retired, consulting together in this manner was a clear indication of the danger. Something big was in the works, a threat that needed to be dealt with quickly and severely.

A comfortable silence enveloped the room as everyone awaited Carim's arrival. Fate allowed herself those quiet minutes to replay some of her experiences with Nanoha over the past few days. Mostly she rehashed the tender conversations they had shared, although memories of their intimate encounters also crossed her mind. A heat was forming in her cheeks and she glanced around the room to ensure no one had noticed. They too seemed preoccupied in their own thoughts at that moment and paid no heed to the sight of her now flushed face.

Hayate was first to disrupt the calmed atmosphere. "Do you have enough creamer there, Fate?" she blurted out. "I can always get my assistant to get more. If I remember correctly, you prefer french vanilla."

The Enforcers shared another wary glance with each other. That was the third mention of an assistant since they had arrived. "Um... no thank you, Hayate. The plain creamer is just fine," Fate replied.

Teana finally had enough of the games. "Alright, who the hell is this -?"

"So have you and Subaru kissed and made up yet, Teana?" Hayate interrupted again, then added an exaggerated wink to punctuate the question. Teana could only open and close her mouth with little sounds escaping from her throat in response, as if her body was ready to answer but her mind was light years behind. The unexpected question was meant to trip Teana up, and it succeeded beautifully.

The door to the office unexpectedly opened behind them. Signum smoothly slid along the wall to let the new arrival into the office, as if she expected the appearance the entire time time. "I don't think that's any of your business, Hayate," was heard from beyond the boundaries of the doorway.

The two Enforcers sat up straight in their seats at the sound of the familiar voice. "Ginga...?" they both breathed in unison.

Hayate was unfettered as the former Enforcer made her entrance into the office. "I was just making small talk while we waited for you to get back, Ginga. After all, it's important to take an active interest in your friends' lives."

Ginga paused in the middle of the room with several brown manila file folders tucked neatly under one arm. "I'm not so sure of that," she replied, her eyes locked onto Hayate's. "That can get you in a lot of trouble if you're not careful."

The tension grew in the room exponentially. Fate was too shocked by her former partner's appearance to defend against the slight that was just directed at her. Teana was in no position to respond either, herself still reeling at the mention of her situation with Subaru. Ginga made her way towards the temporary workstation at the rear of the office. She set the files in her arms down onto the desktop before taking a seat in the swivel chair behind it.

Hayate returned her vision to the still stunned Enforcers seated on the couch. "Oh by the way, Ginga has been assigned as my new assistant," she announced.

Teana jaw clenched reflexively."That didn't need explaining, Hayate."

Fate thought it best to remain silent for now, lest make the current situation any worse than it already was. She choose instead to observe the actions of her friend seated across the room. Well, former friend now, perhaps. She wasn't sure at the point. Ginga was busy organizing the files she had brought in, choosing not to turn her eyes away from the task at hand. It was obvious she was avoiding eye contact with the occupants on the couch, an act that sadden Fate immensely.

"The administration has assigned Ginga to a very important job now," Hayate continued without skipping a beat. "She is now going to provide administrative support for your team when I am unavailable. In fact, those files she has there are potential candidates to fill her vacancy."

Teana sucked her teeth loudly in disgust. "'What the hell? That's just wrong on so many levels."

"I think being Hayate's assistant is much worse," Signum chimed in from her spot against the wall.

"That's quite enough out of you," Hayate retorted, pointing a knife-hand squarely in Signum's direction. She then turned her attention to her new assistant again. "Ginga, if you would be so kind as to make a note for me please?"

Hazel eyes masked under the shadow of blue bangs peered at the commander in open skepticism. She did as instructed though, hesitantly picking up the pen resting on the notepad on top of her desk. She sat poised, ready to write down whatever the mischievous leader had to say next.

"Did you know..." Hayate began, "the word 'TACO-CAT' spelled backwards is still 'TACO-CAT'? It's true. I just found this out. If you write it down yourself, you'll see-"

"I don't need to write it down. I got it." Ginga tossed the pen down in exasperation. Fate glanced back and forth between the two, clueless as the what was transpiring between them. She knew Hayate didn't do anything unintentionally, that her actions and words always served a purpose, but right now she couldn't figure out what her approach towards Ginga was in the slightest.

"Stop me if you've heard this before," the brunette continued, completely unabashed by Ginga's first reaction. "Two goldfish are together in a tank, right? Well, one of them turns to the other and says, 'Dude... how do you even _drive_ this thing?!'"

Teana unintentionally let out a snort and then covered her mouth, wishing Hayate's terrible joke had not caused that reaction from her. Fate fell into further confusion over the exchange. Signum groaned loudly and rolled her eyes, although Fate did notice the corners of her mouth turning upwards a bit in response to the bad joke.

Ginga, on the other hand, sat completely stone-faced in response to Hayate's quip. Fate had to wonder how much torture she had already been subjected to that morning. She also felt a great deal of sympathy for what she could only imagine was to come next as the mischievous commander's assistant.

The office door unexpectedly slid open again, distracting everyone stuck in the awkward moment. Carim Gracia, a Knight of the Saint Church and a prominent member on the Administrative Bureau's board of directors, gracefully entered Hayate's office with her own assistant trailing a few steps behind. The Enforcers, including Ginga, immediately rose to their feet at her appearance. Carim nodded at Fate and Teana in passing as she approached Hayate's desk on the opposite end of the room.

"Good morning, Commander Yagami," she greeted. A feminine hand was extended in Hayate's direction. The brunette rose from her seat as well and humbly returned the handshake. Fate marveled at the ease in which Hayate could switch from teasing playfulness to complete professionalism in the blink of an eye.

"Good morning, Carim," she replied warmly. "We were just discussing Ginga's new role here as my assistant."

Carim turned towards the blue-haired woman stationed near the rear of the office. All sets of eyes in the room behind her fell on the ex-Enforcer as well. Ginga visibly stood a little taller with her arms straight at her sides, her military bearing now on-point.

"Ah, yes. Ms. Nakajima, I hope you're finding your new position with Hayate here well? I know it's a significant change from what you had been doing in your career previously."

"Yes, ma'am. My morning with Hayate has certainty been... informative. But I am happy to assist my former team members in selecting a replacement as soon as possible. I thank the Council for the opportunity."

Fate felt Teana open a private telepathic link between the two of them. "_Now she's thanking them for the demotion?! This isn't right, Fate._"

"_I know... But I don't think is anything we can do about it,_" Fate replied helplessly. To see Ginga subjected to her current situation was unbearable to watch, and to know she had played a major role in the incident that caused this outcome only compounded Fate's feelings of guilt tenfold. She wanted nothing more than to speak directly to Ginga, to apologize for everything that had happened between them. She just wasn't sure if she would have the opportunity to do so before she left on their mission Friday morning though.

Ginga gathered the folders of potential replacements into her arms and walked them over to Carim's assistant for review. Hayate took her seat again behind her desk and gestured for Carim to take the chair opposite from Fate and Teana. The Enforcers returned to their seats on the couch and waited patiently while Carim's assistant handed the files to her supervisor one by one.

"So," the knight began after setting the folders on the table in front of them, "let's discuss the upcoming mission, shall we?"

(_Day 2 to be continued..._)

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**A/N:** I decided to break this chapter up into two parts. It had become a lot longer than I had originally intended it to be. 10,000+ words in one chapter was a bit overwhelming to work on after being gone for over a year. The other half should be posted soon-ish (I hope, if my schedule allows for it). I'm still on a bit of a learning curve as I get used to writing and proofreading lengthy texts like this again. I'll try my best though. Until next time, take care! ~Nissanity~


	3. Chapter 3 - That Small Voice Inside 2

**A/N:** Hello again to everyone who is continuing along this story with me. As always, the reviews I've received have been so warm and supportive. I thank everyone for your words about my marriage and my new life in the Navy! My weeks can be a bit rough with long days of training, but I take comfort that I can turn to fanfiction in my free time and share in NanoFate with so many wonderful people. Zarosguth asked a question about my use of Ginga in some of my stories. I'll be answering that in the A/N at the bottom of this chapter, but for now let's pick up where we left off! :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

****UNBREAKABLE****

by : ~Nissanity~

****Chapter 3 – _That Small Voice Inside (Part 2)_****

* * *

_~Day 2 (cont'd)~_

Nanoha loosened her necktie and unfastened the top button of the collar of her blouse as she waited in the booth, trying to relieve some of the stuffiness the humidity was causing that day. The cafe next to headquarters was one of her favorite places to eat when she wasn't up for another meal in the galley, and she was pleased to find the lunch rush was over with only a few tables around her still occupied. She had convinced Vita to cover for her that afternoon, even though the lunch hour for them had already passed. It was the only time her companions were free to join her that afternoon since their schedules had been jam-packed with meetings and conferences thus far.

She sighed contently, the few minutes alone in the quiet booth serving to calm her mind. It had been quite the hectic morning with the recruits as they struggled through the mud and muck caused by the rain the previous evening. Vita had already been frustrated with the new class and their inexperience as it was, without the added pressure of a compromised training field causing them to slip and fall in grand fashion every few seconds. Nanoha almost canceled her lunch meeting to provide interference from the co-instructor's hard line approach, but in the end she opted to proceed with her original plan. It was important for the new Enforcers to learn to handle all sorts of variables, she reasoned, including a short fiery trainer who loved to push them past their limits.

As had now become the norm when she had a few minutes alone, Nanoha's thoughts immediately turned to Fate. The clock was ticking down until her departure, and with each minute that passed Nanoha's anxiety grew. Work was serving as nothing but a constant reminder that the Enforcers were leaving on their next mission in a few days. The official details of the mission that had been released so far were sparse at best, although speculations to fill in the missing blanks were circulating in abundance. Nanoha knew better than to be sucked into the drama and get herself more worked up. She would find out all the specifics from her own source soon enough. She always did.

"Wow, you look like someone just ran over your puppy, Nanoha."

The familiar voice instantly elicited a groan from the instructor. This was not who she had expected to make an appearance during her quiet lunch that afternoon.

"Hello, Hayate," Nanoha replied coolly. "I didn't realize you would be joining us for lunch today."

"Well, here I am. I had a few minutes between meetings. So... surprise!"

Nanoha spotted Lindy and Arf carefully making their way through the cafe in her direction next. Fate's mother smiled broadly as she arrived beside the booth. "Look who we found on our way here, Nanoha! I insisted Hayate join us. I hope you don't mind?"

"Of course not," Nanoha said with a smile. She gestured to the opposite side of the booth for Lindy and Arf to take their seats. She then scooted towards the interior of the booth so Hayate could sit on the bench beside her. The waitress walked by and noted the unexpected guest that was now seated at the table. She journeyed towards to the front of the restaurant to get an extra menu and place setting.

Arf's ears twitched as she scanned the colorful menu in front of her. "I remember this place having good food," she said, her voice raised a little with excitement. "Doesn't look like anything has changed from the last time I was here, either."

The four women kept to small talk while they scanned the menu and placed their food and drink orders with their waitress. Nanoha opted for a small salad since her appetite seemed to have all but disappeared that afternoon. Arf and Lindy chose conservative meals themselves as well, while Hayate decided to stick with just coffee.

"My assistant was kind enough to get lunch for everyone at my last meeting," she explained. "I'm still full from that."

Nanoha reflected on the comment. "Wait, you have an assistant now? I don't remember you having one before. Well, other than Rein."

Hayate's eyes grew wide and she laughed nervously. "Yes, I have one now. She was assigned to me this morning. It's not an awkward situation for anyone in the slightest."

From the corner of her eye, Nanoha could see Lindy's lips form into a thin line, as if she were trying not to smile at the comment. There was more to the story than Hayate was letting on and Lindy was apparently in on the joke.

"What?" Nanoha said between the two. "I feel like you guys have some sort of secret or something."

Lindy tried dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. "Oh, it's nothing to worry about. There are much more interesting things we could discuss. Like how are things going with my daughter, Nanoha? Fate looked as if she was on cloud nine this morning. She couldn't stop smiling when she spoke of you."

The turn in conversation to the blond immediately caused a smile to form on Nanoha's face as well, along with a fierce blush that blazed its way onto her cheeks. The thought of Fate having such a strong reaction when she spoke of her was cause for her own level of giddiness, it seemed.

"Things are going really good with Fate-chan," she confirmed. Her mind turned to the confession she had made to Fate the night before - three weighted words that gave voice to the feelings she had unknowningly harbored for so long. She turned a deeper red, the color nearly reaching her ears at that point.

"Ah, looks like someone has a secret of their own," Hayate teased and poked her flustered friend in the side. "Let me guess... It has to do with a concept that rhymes with 'schloooooove', right?"

"'_Schlove_'?!" Arf repeated with a laugh. "Geez, remind me never to play charades with you, Hayate."

"Wait, what? You don't talk during charades, Arf."

"You don't? I thought you did. What game is it I'm thinking of then?"

"I don't know, but that's like the number rule of charades. You can't talk."

Lindy turned her attention solely to Nanoha, ignoring the silly conversation currently taking place between Arf and Hayate. Nanoha's skin was still on fire across the table. "So, I take it you fully understand your feelings for her now, Nanoha?"

Nanoha closed her eyes and nodded in embarrassment. "You caught me, Lindy. Last night...I-I told her that I loved her."

With the news, Hayate immediately cried out and began to dance while still seated on the bench, causing the whole booth to shake with her jarring movements. Arf groaned at the sight of the brunette's arms flailing in the air and then fished her hand around in the front pocket of her shorts. Lindy smiled as well and brought her purse into her lap to rummage through it.

"Now what's going on?" Nanoha asked of the new spectacle.

"I won!" Hayate announced with great fanfare. "Yesterday was my day in the betting pool."

Fate's familiar placed a twenty dollar bill in Hayate's now outstretched hand first, who triumphantly took it before turning her attention to Lindy. She waited patiently with her palm extended to the ceiling, the first bill still resting on top of it.

"I didn't think they would move _that_ fast," Arf said to Hayate and Lindy. She turned and winked playfully at Nanoha across the table.

"All that matters is that they are happy," Lindy declared as she set two ten dollar bills on top of Arf's wager. "It is money well spent in my opinion."

"You guys bet on our relationship?!" Nanoha asked Hayate in sheer disbelief.

"Only when you would tell each other that you were in love. That's all, I promise."

Nanoha first blinked at the concept of the bet. She then leaned back in the booth with her arms crossed guardedly over her chest. "Well, I did tell her that I love her... But she was asleep at the time. She hasn't said it back to me or anything."

Hayate's smug grin immediately vanished. Arf raised her eyebrows in surprise and even Lindy gave pause to the turn of events. She then took her money back from Hayate's still outstretched hand that now appeared frozen in place. Arf retrieved her money as well.

"Wait, it still counts!" Hayate protested once she had gathered her thoughts again. "Well, it halfway counts. I won the bet halfway. So you each owe me ten dollars."

"No way," Arf said, firmly shaking her head as she returned her money to her pocket. "The bet was when they said 'I love you' to each other. This doesn't count."

Lindy placed the money back in her wallet in her purse. "I'm afraid I must agree with Arf, Hayate."

Nanoha took a deep breath to control her emotions, although she was secretly pleased to find that in this situation, she actually had the upper hand over her friend. "You should all know that I have no plans on telling Fate-chan that I'm in love with her. Not anytime soon, at least."

Hayate's frustration at the situation continued to grow. She really hated losing at her own schemes and Nanoha knew it. "But I have my name down this whole week in the betting pool, Nanoha! I'll be out a lot of money."

"And how is that my problem exactly, Hayate?"

"Because, i-it just is! I, uh... Look when it comes down to it, I really just want you and Fate to be happy, so -"

"You're terrible!" Nanoha interrupted loudly, not about to let Hayate fabricate noble intentions regarding the wager in that moment. Watching her frustrated face was proving to be very satisfying in this case, though. Nanoha couldn't contain the smile her small victory against her sly friend had created. It wasn't often that she won in the battle of wits against Hayate. She was certainly going to allow herself to relish in the rare moment.

Lindy reached across the table to pat Nanoha's hand to get her attention. "You have our word that we will not tell Fate what you have told us today, my dear. It's against the rules for any of us to interfere anyway. Isn't that correct, Hayate?"

"Yeeeessss," Hayate groaned in defeat. "I can't say anything to Fate about it."

"Me, neither," Arf added. "And we won't tell you anymore of the dates we have bet on either. That way it won't be a factor."

Lindy opened up four creamer packets and stirred them into her cup of green tea. She then added three cubes of white sugar, a sight that still shocked Nanoha to this day. "Any particular reason why you're choosing not to reveal your feelings yet, Nanoha?" she asked her as she delicately stirred her drink.

Nanoha looked away to the table, suddenly finding a deep scratch in the tabletop fascinating. She absentmindedly ran her index fingertip back and forth over it. "Um, I guess right now things are going so good between us. And she's leaving in a few days, so she needs to focus on her next mission. She shouldn't have to try to figure out if she feels the same way about me yet. It's too much of a risk."

"That's very sensible of you," Lindy agreed with a knowing nod. "You have given yourself completely to someone else for the first time in your life. That's a big deal. Your heart is now invested in a way it hasn't been before, which makes you both very vulnerable. I think we all can understand why you might be cautious in taking another big step so soon with what's at stake."

"I'm trying to not let her leaving affect me so much," Nanoha added. "I can't say I'm succeeding, though. But I don't think Fate-chan has noticed. I wouldn't want her to see it."

"So, it's a lot harder this time around then?" Hayate asked, her tone turning much more gentle now. Nanoha appreciated the concerned gesture from her longtime friend, who was usually more prone to teasing her friends in attempts to cheer them up. She nodded in response but also attempted a smile.

"It is," she confirmed.

Lindy sighed quietly and closed her eyes. "I distinctly remember going through what you are experiencing right now, Nanoha. Trying to be so strong and supportive, and not letting them see how much their leaving hurts you inside. Nothing will change the fact that they must go, so you have to be strong for their sake. That way they can do what they need to do out there and eventually come back home to you."

Nanoha's breath caught in her chest and tears brimmed her eyes. To hear someone voice her concerns so poignantly, having experienced it themselves, was a comforting notion to counteract the pain. As if they shared a bond that few others might ever know. Lindy's jaw tightened and she swallowed hard as she stared blankly at the tea cup now clasped firmly in her hands. The pain over her deceased husband was present to that day, evident in the deepening creases around the older woman's eyes as she seemed to be fighting off her own tears. Nanoha's mind briefly turned to the idea of losing Fate in the same manner. She shook her head to clear her mind, the grief so intense with the thought she immediately had to push it away.

"Who had the chicken salad?" the waitress' voice suddenly rang out, instantly putting an end to the serious conversation they were having. The group looked up to find their server holding three plates of food in her hands beside their booth. They each shifted objects around on the table to accommodate for the additional dishware.

Just as the server was leaving, Arf glanced past her and noticed familiar short blue hair over by the coffee bar. The spunky woman she spotted was taking an iced mocha from the barista behind the counter. "Hey, that's Subaru over there, isn't it?"

All eyes turned to look across the cafe. "It is," Nanoha confirmed. The sugary concoction she held had enough whip cream and chocolate syrup on top of it to give them all cavities from across the restaurant. "She must be here getting coffee for her and Teana."

"I doubt she is getting anything for Teana," Arf mentioned as they all watched Subaru excitedly take the top of the whip cream into her mouth. "Rumor has it to two aren't speaking at the moment."

"Oh, really?" Hayate asked, her curiosity instantly aroused with the potential for good gossip. "Did they get into a fight or something?"

"No, not a fight exactly. I heard Subaru rejected Teana last night when she asked if they could try again. It's pretty awkward between them now."

Hayate grimaced and sucked in a breath. "Ooooh, crap! I should _not_ have said what I did to Teana earlier then. I'm a terrible person."

"What did you say to her?" Nanoha asked.

"I asked her if she and Subaru had kissed and made up yet."

"Wow... You really are a terrible person, Hayate," she scolded her. "But that's what you get for interfering in other people's love lives."

The brunette's eyes grew wide. "Excuse me?! Nanoha, where would you and Fate be right now if I hadn't stepped in with you two?"

"We would have figured it out eventually."

"Yeah, okay. When we were all like eighty years old and you'd be all wrinkly and -"

"I must say, if anyone needs a push in the right direction... " Lindy casually interrupted as she placed her napkin in her lap, "it's Subaru and Teana. Wouldn't you agree, Arf?"

"Hmmm, yes. That's very true," Arf confirmed with a nod. "It's so obvious to everyone else. It has been for years now."

Nanoha watched the glean in Hayate's eye kick into overdrive as she continued to stare at Subaru across the cafe. She abruptly stood from the table and pulled five dollars out of her skirt pocket to cover her coffee plus tip. "I'll let everyone enjoy their lunches," she said in haste. "Nanoha, it's been lovely. Lindy and Arf... I'm sure I will be seeing you at the conference tomorrow morning."

"Yes, of course. Arf and I will look for you in the auditorium."

"Take care, Hayate," Nanoha added as she walked away.

The brunette gave a quick wave over her shoulder while practically running across the cafe. The three occupants remaining in the booth witnessed Hayate stalk Subaru just as she was about to exit. She playfully tackled the younger woman from behind, nearly causing her to spill her drink. Hayate proceeded to sling her arm around Subaru's shoulder and guided her out the front door of the cafe.

Nanoha picked up her fork and turned her attention to her salad. "God speed, Subaru," she joked.

"Are you feeling any better, Nanoha?" Lindy asked. "Hopefully getting something things off your chest helped a little?"

"Um-hmm. It did, actually. It makes me feel like I'm not going so crazy with my emotions. And that I'm not alone in all this."

"Well, Arf and I are always here to listen if you ever need to talk. We've both have been down your path ourselves. We know what it's like."

"Thank you, Lindy," Nanoha said, feeling a burden slowly being lifted off her shoulders with the kind offer. "I may have to do that sometime."

**oOOOo**

Teana stretched her arms high above her head as she and Fate walked through the main hall of headquarters, both having their sights set on the exit. "I didn't think these meetings would ever end today," the younger Enforcer groaned.

Fate nodded in wholehearted agreement. "We didn't even have a chance to find a replacement for Ginga yet, either."

"Yeah, and time's running out to get them trained before we leave," Teana added. "Better luck tomorrow, hopefully."

The sun nearly blinded the two as they walked out of the front entrance and towards the parking lot. The weather had changed dramatically from the night before. The sky was now a bright blue with only a few fluffy white clouds scattered around, although the humidity was now at a stifling level because of it. Fate retrieved her sunglasses from her uniform pocket and put them on. She then scanned the parking lot. "I guess Nanoha isn't out yet," she mentioned.

"I'll walk you to your car, Fate. I think I parked near you guys this morning."

Fate's thoughts turned to the meeting they had with Carim earlier, and more specifically the events in the office leading up to her arrival. There were aspects of it that continued to bother her throughout the afternoon. "Hey, Teana?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why was Hayate acting like that towards Ginga earlier? Making all those jokes and comments? I didn't get it."

Teana shrugged. "I guess if we were all distracted by a bunch of bullshit from her, there was less chance of drama. I also think Hayate wanted to see how far she could push Ginga's buttons. If you think about it, the two don't really know each other all that much."

Fate knew all too well that if Hayate was trying to get a rise out of her levelheaded ex-partner, she would have to work a lot harder to accomplish that feat. Years of being Subaru's sister had given her plenty of practiced patience to combat silliness like that. During the meeting, Ginga did her best to remain inconspicuous and neutral while the others in the room discussed the potential candidates to replace her on the next mission, and the entire time she continued to avoid eye contact with both Fate and Teana.

"I guess she wasn't wanting to speak to either of us today," Fate then noted. "I understand why she's upset with me, but I thought you two were still friends?"

A pained expression passed across Teana's features and Fate immediately felt bad for asking a question that might have hit a sore spot with her partner. Teana then smiled a little and shook her head. "Don't feel bad, Fate," she told her, as if reading her mind. "I think it's for her sister's sake. Subaru and I aren't really talking right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you guys get into a fight?"

When the two arrived at Nanoha's SUV, Teana crossed her arms and leaned her back against the passenger side door. "Not exactly. She told me last night that she wasn't ready to pursue anything romantic with me again. So we're taking some time apart for a while."

Fate's heart sank with the news. She had been hoping the two could work it out after all and find happiness together. There had been a strong attraction between the two for as long time as she had known them. But then again, they already had an established history that could be difficult to overcome as well. "Has she not gotten past what happened the last time between you two?"

"No, it's not that. I think she has forgiven me for the Vice thing."

"So it's something else then?"

Teana paused, now hesitating to divulge the true reason of why Subaru had rejected her. "I'll be honest, Fate," she said after a moment, "I'm not sure I should be telling you the reason why. I hope you can trust me when I say that."

"Oh..." Fate responded slowly. The comment took her aback a little, but she certainly wasn't the type to push for personal information from someone who wasn't up for sharing it. "It's fine, Teana. I'm just sorry that it didn't work between you two."

"Fate-chan!"

Fate turned at the sound of the familiar voice calling out to her from across the parking lot. She then broke out into a huge grin at the sight of Nanoha heading in her direction. Teana laughed at the sight and pulled away from the SUV.

"Alright, I'm going to leave you two lovebirds to do your thing. Have a good afternoon, Fate." Teana waved hello to Nanoha across the parking lot as she walked toward her own vehicle one aisle over. Fate opened the passenger door for Nanoha as neared the vehicle. The gesture earned her an affectionate peck on the cheek from the instructor before she climbed inside.

"My prince charming," she joked as she settled into the passenger seat.

"I try my best," Fate replied, now blushing. She was almost tempted to bring her hand up to where Nanoha's lips had brushed against, the spot now tingling. She was amazed that sometimes those little moments affected her as much as their most intimate encounters together. Snapping out of it, she instead crossed to the driver's side and climbed in behind the wheel.

Nanoha pulled the strap of her seat belt to buckle up. "Was Teana in a hurry today? She left pretty quick."

"Not exactly," Fate replied and pulled the SUV out of the parking lot. "She and Subaru are having some issues. I think she just wanted to get away while she could."

"I heard something about that at lunch today. Subaru turned Teana down after all, it seems."

Fate nodded. "That's what she said. She didn't really want to talk about it, though. Not that I blame her."

The passenger took the opportunity to snake her arm through Fate's and brought her head down to rest against her shoulder. The blond glanced over and smiled at the content women who had come to lean against her. It was one of those moments the two shared where they didn't need to say anything to understand what the other was thinking. They both recognized they were very lucky to have each other in the way they did now.

Vivio's school had already been dismissed and the students were standing outside the building when their SUV pulled into the parking lot. Vivio noticed their arrival and began to skip in their direction. The mothers were surprised to see her two closest friends at school, Rio and Corona, were also running close behind her in their direction.

When the heterochromatic eyes came to peer intently at her through the bottom of the passenger side window, Nanoha pushed the button for the automated window. Vivio was soon joined by two more sets of eager eyes boring holes into her. "Yes, Vivio? What is it?" she asked after the window had rolled down enough.

"Nanoha-Mama, can I spend the night at Rio's house tonight? Please?"

"Pllleeeeaaasssseeee?!" the other two chimed in. Across the parking lot, Nanoha and Fate could see Rio's guardian begin to walk in the direction of the SUV as well.

"Tonight, Vivio? No, sweetie. It's a school night. I'm sure you have homework to do."

A determined, stubborn look formed on Vivio's face. Fate knew the little girl was not about to go down without a fight. "Rio's mom already said it was okay. We're going to work on binds today. Please?!"

Rio's mother walked up behind the three girls and placed an affectionate hand on top of her daughter's head. "Hello, Nanoha. Fate. It really is fine. I'll make sure all three of them do their homework tonight and go to bed on time. Right, girls?"

"Right!" they all responded in unison.

Nanoha turned towards the driver's seat, grateful for times like this when she had the second parent there to consult with. "What do you think, Fate-chan?"

Fate pretended to mull the decision over. "Well... as long as she promises to do her homework and behave herself tonight," she replied in feigned hesitation, "I don't see any issue with it."

The three friends exchanged high fives all around and giggled. "Yes!"

"What do you say girls?" Rio's mother reminded them.

"Thank you!" they all exclaimed in unison. All three were gone in a flash and running together towards the car on the other side of the parking lot, their little backpacks swaying back and forth behind them.

"You have my number," Nanoha said to Rio's mother. "Please call if anything comes up and we need to come get her."

"I'm sure it will be fine," she assured her. She then winked playfully and grinned at both of the vehicle's occupants. "Have a good evening, you two."

Nanoha's mouth dropped slightly at the gesture and Fate's hand hovered frozen above the stick shift. Nanoha turned to face Fate after she left, a bit shell shocked. "Did she just...?"

Fate nodded in confirmation. "Yep. She sure did."

"Our daughter has a big mouth."

"That's the truth. So, I guess that leave us with the whole evening to ourselves then?" Fate mentioned as she drove the SUV out of the parking lot and in the direction of their house.

"Yes, it certainly does."

"Anything you would like to do in particular tonight?"

"Hmmm..." Nanoha murmured thoughtfully. It was rare for the two to have that much time alone together without work or their daughter to occupy their time. While she contemplated, Nanoha's thoughts turned to the notion that in a few short days she would be saying goodbye to Fate. The military would once again be in control, taking her across the universe and back and god knows where else. They had both given so much of their lives to the missions and the training and the needs of everyone out there who needed their help. The sacrifices felt endless.

But for one night... maybe they could take some of the time back for themselves.

"Yes, I want to go on a date with you," she announced.

Fate glanced towards the passenger seat. "A date?"

"Um-hmm. A real, honest-to-goodness date. The works."

"Alright, we could do that. And just where would we be going on this date?"

Nanoha smiled and relaxed into her seat. "Dinner first, of course. And after that... I have no idea. I'll let you surprise me."

**oOOOo**

"_Almost ready, Fate-chan._"

Fate closed her eyes and fell back against the couch cushions. "_No problem, Nanoha. Take all the time you need_," she replied telepathically. She pulled the sleeve of her blazer up so that she could look at her watch. It had been forty-five minutes since she had finished getting dressed in her black female-tailored suit with the dark red blouse beneath, an outfit she hadn't worn in quite some time. Nanoha was still getting ready for their date in their bedroom.

She felt nervous, and she imagined it akin to the way teenage boys felt on prom night as they waited for their dates to put the final touches on for the evening. It was the first official date she had ever been on in her life, which was ironic given that she was already in a committed relationship with the person she taking out that evening.

The remote control caught her eye on the coffee table and she leaned forward. Maybe she should watch TV to pass the time while she waited? Maybe read one Vivio's storybooks setting on the lower shelf of the table? She shook her head and leaned back again. No. She didn't want Nanoha to think she was bored or disinterested in their evening together.

"Why are you just sitting on the couch like that, Fate-chan?"

Fate instantly rose to her feet with her companion's sudden appearance in the doorway. Her long chestnut hair was in large curls and pulled into a messy but stylish hairstyle, with a few locks falling away to accentuate her face. Her long blue silk dress had a slit that traveled up her leg and nearly reached her waist, accentuating her slim figure beneath it. The six-inch heels perfectly matched her dress and raised her up to Fate's height. Her makeup was conservative, making sure to draw attention to those dazzling azure eyes first.

Fate openly stared at the woman in front of her.

_Oh my god._

Nanoha was looking towards the blank television set while she placed the left earring in her lobe. "You could have turned on the television while you were waiting," she added. After successfully clasping the back of the earring, she stood up straight and smoothed the dress over her stomach and hips. "What do you think? Do I look alright?"

"Y-yes," Fate choked out in an uneven voice. She paused and looked away to clear her throat, took a breath to regain her composure and tried again. "You look absolutely beautiful, Nanoha," she then said with much more grace.

"Well I must, with that sort of reaction," Nanoha smiled in return. She leaned forward to gently touch her lips to the corner of Fate's mouth, careful not to transfer any lipstick in the process. She stayed closed and whispered, "Thank you for always making me feel beautiful, Fate-chan."

They were getting dangerously close to not leaving the house that night after all. Nanoha's intoxicating perfume filled Fate's senses and her eyes trailed over the flawless skin so close to her. "Anytime, Nanoha..."

Nanoha pulled away first, ending the tension that was now threatening to derail their plans for the evening. "I'll just get my purse," she said and headed towards the kitchen. "By the way, you look really nice tonight too."

The blond blinked and shook her head to clear the distracting thoughts from her mind. "Thank you."

"What time is the reservation?" Nanoha asked loudly from the next room over.

"In about thirty minutes," Fate replied, checking her watch again as she walked towards the front door of their home. "We should make it in time if we hurry."

"Okay, coming!"

Fate opened the door for Nanoha to exit first so that she could lock the door behind them. It was dusk now and the sunset above was a bright mix of orange and yellow with deep pink hues splashed intermittently. It was a beautiful summer sunset in Mid-Childa, a sight Nanoha had not stopped to appreciate in quite some time.

"It feels so nice out here," Fate mentioned as the two made their way down the sidewalk towards the vehicle parked in the driveway.

"It's too bad we can't just fly to dinner and save ourselves a lot of trouble. It's the perfect evening for it."

The Enforcer laughed at the notion. "That would break so many flight clearance rules."

Nanoha waited beside the vehicle for Fate to open the passenger door for her. "One of these days we should schedule a free-flight together. I miss flying with you."

"I do, too," Fate replied as Nanoha climbed inside. She got an eyeful of her date's toned left leg through the slit in the process, raising her blood pressure instantaneously. She closed the passenger door and willed her heart to slow down a bit.

That dress might just be the death of her tonight.

**oOOOo**

"Do you want the rest of this, Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked, holding the nearly empty wine bottle above the table.

"No, I'm good for now. I still need to drive later on tonight. You can have it."

Nanoha inspected the bottle with slightly glassy eyes and debated whether she should finish the remainder of the contents or not. Fate watched her silently shrug and pour the rest of the wine into her glass, thereby answering that question. The two had been seated in a quiet corner of the patio at the sushi restaurant they had chosen, the one that backed up to the wooden pier that skirted the bay. The moon was full that evening, basking the outside surroundings in a cool white glow, and the stars shined brilliantly above the water.

Neither woman had ever been to this elegant restaurant before, both too busy in their lives to attempt a trip there, even though it had been highly recommended by all their friends. The food was delicious and reminded them their childhoods in Uminari, where fresh fish was abundant and sushi was a somewhat common meal for them.

As the night progressed, Fate found Nanoha becoming more adorable with each passing minute. Her date was slightly tipsy after the wine she had consumed, and it had allowed her to relax significantly as the night wore on. She took a long sip from her glass and looked out towards the water again. She then set the wineglass down and leaned across the table.

"How much trouble do you think we'd be in if we went swimming right now?" she asked quietly, her face gravely seriously. She even glanced around the restaurant quickly to ensure no one else had heard her.

"In the ocean out there?" Fate questioned in returned. She too leaned across the table and looked Nanoha dead in the eye. "I don't think we'd get in trouble, but it's not really a good idea."

Nanoha pursed her lips. "Hmmm... Probably not. I don't even want to go swimming, honestly. I was just curious."

"Okay," Fate said with a smile. The waiter returned to the table with Fate's credit card and receipts to complete their meal. After calculating the tip and adding her signature to the bottom line, Fate stood from the table and extended her hand towards her date. "Shall we go?"

"Um-hmm." Nanoha left the mostly full wineglass on the table behind and stood up, choosing not to drink the remainder after all. She knew anymore would be too much. Even as she steadied herself on her heels using Fate's hand, she could feel the effects of the alcohol. It wasn't unpleasant, but she sure as hell didn't want to fall down on her face because of it.

As they walked along the edge of restaurant towards the exit, Nanoha linked her arm through Fate's and allowed herself to be escorted outside. A permanent smile had made its way to her features as the two proceeded onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Fate then guided them to the edge of the street and hailed a cab.

"I take it you know where we're going next, Fate-chan?"

"I do," she replied. "I can't tell you yet, though. It's a surprise."

Nanoha entwined their hands and hugged Fate's arm tighter against her body. "Sounds good."

A cab soon arrived and the two climbed inside the back passenger door and cuddled close together on the bench seat. Fate only told the driver the address of where they were going, who silently nodded and drove them towards their destination. Nanoha's vision was transfixed on the ocean beside them during their journey to the other side of the pier. As the two rode in silence, Fate enjoyed Nanoha's perfume teasing her senses again and the feel of her silky hair against her cheek.

When the taxi arrived at their destination, Nanoha sat up straighter to take in the bright stadium lights shining above them. She could also practically feel the bass in the loud music, which was slightly rattling the closed windows of the cab. She turned towards Fate and raised her eyebrows high, a look that Fate couldn't quite decipher.

"I-I thought this could be fun," was her cautious reply. "But we can go somewhere else if-"

Her insecurities were silenced when Nanoha abruptly covered Fate's lips with her own in a chaste but lingering kiss. Fate could feel Nanoha begin to smile before she pulled away, and when she looked into her eyes after she saw a familiar sparkle to them.

"It's perfect!" Nanoha declared excitedly. "But you know I'm going to kick your butt at all of this, right? Just sayin'."

Fate almost threw money at the cab driver before getting out of the vehicle. "You, my dear Nanoha... are sorely mistaken," she replied, fully accepting the challenge.

Nanoha didn't bother waiting for Fate to open the door for her, and instead exited the taxi in a flash and nearly ran across the parking lot towards the entrance. The sign above them read "Mid-Childa Fun Center" in neon red and yellow as they passed through the entrance. Fate had to run to catch up to her date, who was moving unbelievably fast in those high heels.

"What's first?" she asked as she finally came to stand beside Nanoha, who was now scanning the options in front of her.

"Umm... let's do miniature golf first. We can try laser tag after."

"You're sure you want to do laser tag in that outfit?"

"Don't ever underestimate what a woman can do in heels, Fate-chan. Oh, and I would a pink ball for this, please."

Fate laughed and walked towards the small stand to rent two putters, a pink golf ball, and then a yellow one for herself. She also gathered a golf pencil and two scorecards so they could keep track of who was winning.

"Thank you, Fate-chan," Nanoha said as she happily took a putter and both golf balls from her hands. She set the balls in the grooves of the rubber mat at the beginning of the first lane. "Mind if I go first?"

Fate indicated that she may go ahead and play. "Yes, of course. Take as many tries as you need, in fact."

Nanoha turned to face her and placed a defiant hand on her hip. "You can't get in my head, Fate-chan. I'll have you know I could have gone pro at mini-golf if I had wanted to."

"I'm sure you could have."

"You'll see..." the stubborn woman muttered under her breath as she lined up her shot. Fate waited patiently for her take a few practice swings before moving to strike the ball. "And, go!" Nanoha cried after finally making contact. The ball easily sailed past the first obstacle and bounced with precision towards the intended target. It struck one final wall before disappearing from sight. A hole in one on the first try.

Fate groaned and sagged her head in defeat. "I'm in for a long night, aren't I?"

Nanoha grabbed the blond's lapels in her hands and pulled her close, sealing her lover's fate with a victory kiss. She then giggled and patted her lightly on the chest. "You have no idea how right you are, Fate-chan."

**oOOOo**

Two rounds of laser tag, ten laps with the go-carts, and a match with the bumper cars completed the couple's evening at the amusement center. Despite Nanoha's bravado in the beginning, Fate soon caught up and evened the score between them. About halfway through they stopped keeping track officially of who was in the lead, although Nanoha was quick to claim she was each time the subject was brought up.

"I still can't believe we closed that place down," Nanoha mentioned as Fate pulled the SUV into the driveway at the conclusion of their date. The driver cut the engine and lights, although neither made a motion to exit the vehicle just yet.

"I can't believe you made that kid cry."

Nanoha laughed and playfully slapped Fate on the arm. "I did not. He was just being a sore loser. He was awful at laser tag."

Fate looked up and out the front windshield towards the sky above them. She couldn't remember the last time the stars had shined so brightly, nor the moons so full. "It's really beautiful out right now."

"It is. I had a great time tonight with you, Fate-chan."

"Me too, Nanoha. I'm glad we could do this together."

Nanoha stretched her arms out in front of her. "I think this the part of the date were I'm supposed to invite you in for coffee."

Fate's eyes reflected sheer confusion at the statement. "It's really late for coffee, isn't it?"

"Nyahaha! You really don't know what that phrase means, Fate-chan? You're kidding! I bet even Vivio knows what that euphemism is."

"Coffee...?" she contemplated quietly. "OHH! You don't mean actual coffee but, um... like, '_coffeeeee' _right?" Fate emphasized the word with a slow punch in the air, as if driving the concept of it home.

Nanoha clutched at her sides and laughed even harder. "Ahhhh, I...I-I can't...!" she moaned, tears now threatening to escape.

"Well, I had never heard of the word 'coffee' used like that before, Nanoha!"

"Okay," Nanoha gasped after a moment, fanning her eyes in attempt to calm down and salvage her mascara. "Okay. Let's just head inside for now."

Fate exited the driver's side of the SUV and quickly crossed to the other side to open the passenger door for her. She held her hand out to assist her date out of the vehicle, who graciously accepted the offer. After shutting the passenger door though, she made no motion to move from her spot beside the vehicle. Nanoha raised her eyebrows at the mysterious action.

"Are we going inside or not, Fate-chan?"

"Not just yet. We still have to do one more thing," she replied. She took a step back and a familiar yellow aura suddenly appeared beneath her. The Enforcer transformed in the blink of an eye before Nanoha could recognize just what she was doing. She clutched her purse tightly afterward, fearing the worst with the sight of Fate now in her full combat gear.

"Did something happen and you need to go now?" she asked quietly, her voice laced with grief at the idea.

Fate surprised her by smiling in return. "No, nothing like that Nanoha. I pulled some strings earlier. I've been authorized for a fifteen minute free-flight tonight."

Nanoha fell further into a confused state until she felt a strong arm settle behind her knees. She was whisked off her feet and cradled into Fate's arms before she recognized what she was up to. "Fate-chan..."

"We don't have much time," was Fate's only reply as she began to hover a few feet off the ground. Her ascent into the atmosphere was kept a comfortable pace for Nanoha since she was still in her untransformed state. The air became much cooler as they approached the thin layer of clouds that separated them from an unobstructed view of the stars above.

They broke the foggy threshold, and Fate slowed to hover a few dozen feet above the layer of clouds. Nanoha curled deeper into Fate's protective arms as the serenity of the scene washed over her. Fate made sure to turn them so that Nanoha was facing the moon directly. She then wrapped her white barrier jacket around Nanoha to provide her with extra warmth.

"Are you doing okay?" Fate asked after a few minutes.

"Yes. I'm very happy right now. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening with you. You're so damn romantic sometimes, you know that?"

Fate looked down at the woman in her arms and flashed that crooked smile of hers. "Yep. And that's why you love me so much."

Sapphire eyes grew exponentially in response to the seemingly casual statement that Fate had just thrown out there. "W-what?" she stammered.

"What?"

Nanoha slowly shook her head. "What am I supposed to do with that...?" she asked quietly.

"I don't understand what you mean, Nanoha. With what?"

"With -" she began, but she stopped herself before she could say anything else. There really was no point in the over-dissection of her feelings, worrying about double meanings, stressing about love vs. _love_, was there now? She chuckled a little under her breath and laid her head back against Fate's chest before letting out a content sigh.

Fate kissed her on top of her head. "Did you figure it out, Nanoha?"

Nanoha closed her eyes. "I did. And you're right. It's exactly why I love you so much, Fate-chan."

**oOOOo**

The drone that was floating two-miles away perfectly captured the image of the two cuddling mages in the sky together. It's scope was set low enough to give the couple privacy though and still be within the Bureau's regulations about monitoring all free-flights above Mid-Childa. Hayate did her best to block her transmitter screen with her body during those fifteen minutes, but in a crowded place like Velvet she knew somebody would probably catch sight of something.

"And they lived happily ever after..." a voice said from directly behind her.

Hayate did not have to turn around to recognize the source of the comment. "Perhaps," she replied as she swirled the clear liquid around the olives in her martini glass. "I was hoping it was something you wouldn't have to see, though. That's why I left the office when I did."

Ginga came to sit beside her direct supervisor at the table, setting her half empty beer bottle down on the table with a thunk. "And yet you came here instead. It's pretty conspicuous."

"Are you jealous?"

"What, of them?" Ginga responded, pointing towards the transmitter screen. "There's not a chance in hell I'm telling anyone how I feel about that situation. Not after what happened."

Hayate took a slow sip of her drink, enjoying the burn in her chest as it went down. "I don't blame you."

"I do have a request for you, Hayate. Separate from that."

"Shoot."

"Please don't push my sister to be with Teana," she asked, her eyes turning serious. "She told me that you asked her a lot of questions about the two of them today. I know your new hobby lately has been matchmaking, but not with those two. Please."

The commander hummed as she set her glass down. Fate and Nanoha had disappeared from the frame and she assumed they had headed home. She shut down her transmitter screen and gave Ginga her full attention. "So, you don't think Subaru and Teana belong together?"

"I _know_ they don't. You have no idea what happened last time. Just because two people are attracted to each other doesn't mean they should be together."

"You know what I like about you, Ginga?" the brunette asked, abruptly changing the subject. "You're deceptively challenging. Until recently, I thought you were a little kitten who couldn't hurt a fly. Now I see you actually have some pretty serious claws."

"Do I now?" she countered. "Other than defending the people I care about, what I have I done that was so vicious?"

"Well, there was the time... I mean..." Hayate replied, and then paused to give thought to the question. She found herself faltering in her attempt to label what it was she sensed in Ginga's personality exactly.

"That's what I thought," Ginga nodded when Hayate failed to produce an answer in a reasonable amount of time. "Maybe I'm not the villain you think I am. I just don't fit your narrative like you want me to. There's the difference."

Without another word Ginga rose from the table, snatched her beer from the tabletop and disappeared in the crowd. Signum, who had been standing nearby during the interaction, took the opportunity to join Hayate in the now vacant seat beside her. The brunette's eyes were wide, as if she had been physically slapped across the face and was still in shock.

"What was that all about?" the knight asked.

Hayate slowly turned to face Signum. A slow grin then began to form on her face, one filled with complete satisfaction. "Just Ginga being the _best_ assistant I could ever ask for!" she exclaimed.

Signum shook her head and took a swig of her beer. "You're such a sadist weirdo," she said. She then patted her master firmly on the back in encouragement. "But do whatever makes you happy, kiddo."

* * *

**A/N:** Talk about good timing to discuss my views regarding Ginga, right? As mentioned above, Zarosguth asked in the review section why Ginga was often presented as wedge between Fate and Nanoha in my stories. Personally, Ginga is one of my favorite characters to work with because of the _potential_ she has. I believe there is no way she could have gone through that horrific incident with the Numbers and come out exactly the same person she was before. When I picture her character, I think she still has noble intentions and cares deeply for those around her. But she also has this "bad-girl" aspect to her as well (my favorite character type), and she might be willing to try a few underhanded measures to get her way. The idea of her and Fate having anything romantic is pretty much a fan-driven aspect, given that there are limited scenes between the two in the series that would indicate the possibility. I'm a big fan of the FateXGinga predicament in the fandom though, and I'm more than willing to use it as a plot device in my stories too.

I guess that's it for now! Until next time ~Nissanity~


	4. Chapter 4 - Old Habits

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

****UNBREAKABLE****

by : ~Nissanity~

****Chapter 4 – _Old_******_** Habits**_**

* * *

_~Day 3~_

Something felt wrong to Fate that morning, an uneasy sensation burrowing into her subconscious. She sat up straight in the bed and scanned the darkened bedroom, relying heavily on all her senses for the source. She pulled the bed sheet to her chest and waited, listening intently for any noise that could be deemed out of the ordinary. It was a deeply ingrained habit from times she spent on unfamiliar planets, seeking unrepentant individuals.

Less than a minute had passed and a soft moan suddenly came from the bed beside her. Fate couldn't help but smile a little in response to the familiar sound. She figured her sleeping lover was likely having another adult-themed dream like she had the week prior. However, when Nanoha emitted another moan seconds later, it sounded much more distressed than the first.

"Fate...cha..." she whispered, her voice strained and desperate. She flinched as well, and the bed shook slightly with the motion.

Illuminated by the moonlight filtering through their bedroom window, Fate could now see the tears escaping through Nanoha's closed eyelids. They traveled in small paths down her cheeks, and several had already fallen away to pool on her pillow. Fate propped herself up on her elbow to lay beside her, although she left a little distance between them in case she woke up violently.

"Nanoha...? Hey, wake up," she called to her in a hushed voice. "You're having a bad dream right now."

Her sleeping lover did not immediately wake to her request, although she did become more still. Fate feathered the long bangs away from Nanoha's eyes before cupping her face with a gentle hand. She brushed away a tear that had just fallen with the pad of her thumb.

The gesture all but pulled Nanoha out of her nightmare. Sapphire eyes opened and blinked several times, then traveled wildly around the room to gather her surroundings. They eventually came to settle on Fate laying beside her, causing her to take a sharp breath at the sight.

The blond watched Nanoha's face shift from shock at first to sheer disbelief at her presence. Finally she relaxed, accepting that what she had just experienced had in fact only been a dream. She brought a shaky hand to Fate's face though, as if to fully confirm that she was indeed there in the flesh and blood. And as she did, her resolution seemed to crumble, with new tears forming at the corners of her eyes again.

Fate didn't quite understand what was bringing about this reaction, but the expression immediately evoked an instinctual desire to protect her. She wrapped her arms around her and drew her in close. Nanoha in turn buried her face into her soft skin and began to openly sob against her shoulder. Fate had witnessed her having bad dreams like this occasionally, although her reaction to them had never been this intense.

"Hey, it's okay," Fate quietly assured her as the tears began to soak into the cloth of her nightgown. She attempted to soothe her by petting her head and running gentle fingers through her chestnut hair. She eventually leaned back onto her pillow and continued to cradle the smaller woman in her arms. "I'm here now, Nanoha. It's okay."

The last statements only caused Nanoha to shake her head and to cry even harder. She gripped Fate's nightgown tightly, clenching fistfuls of black cloth in both hands. And with that response, the reason for this new level of grief was no longer a mystery. Fate had no words to help this time. She was left only with this gesture to comfort her until the tears had subsided on their own. But as Nanoha began to calm herself down, Fate's feelings of guilt had just started to grow, soon leaving a bitter taste in her mouth in the wake.

Seeing Nanoha in her state felt nearly unbearable to her. It burned and clenched at her heart, and in that moment she would done anything to make the emotional burden less on her. Nanoha's breathing eventually slowed, signaling she had fallen back asleep, tucked away safe in Fate's warm embrace for now. The Enforcer stayed awake for much longer in those early morning hours though. Sleep eluded her as she fretted over the unanswerable questions that were now flooding her mind repeatedly.

How could she attempt to comfort Nanoha when _she_ was the ultimate reason for all this pain she was feeling? What was going to happen when the next bad dream came and she was thousands of miles away? But the question most pressing of all - - just what the hell could she possibly do to fix this?

**oOOOo**

The blank white wall made a good focal point while Fate sat outside of Shamal's office. She felt almost numb inside, letting herself completely zone out to her surroundings. She was emotionally drained with all the days events up to that point, even though it was now only a little after nine o'clock in the morning.

By the time Fate had gotten out of the shower that morning, Nanoha was already out of bed and back to her usual cheerful self, even humming lightly while cooking breakfast for their family. Fate felt a little worse with each minute that passed, although outwardly she went along with her own morning routine as well without issue. She hadn't dared to bring up what had transpired between them a few hours before, and she wasn't sure if she was ever going to either.

The problem she faced was not the strong appearances they were both making for each other that morning. It was the occasional glimpses of the pain she noticed in her partner now, ones Nanoha was trying so hard to mask from her. A look of sadness when she mentioned the mission. Moments of hesitation here and there. Soft sighs under her breath. How long had she been doing that? Was it directly related to their new relationship, or did Fate just finally notice after all these years?

She couldn't be upset or angry that Nanoha was trying to spare her feelings by attempting to conceal her own, but that didn't give Fate a free pass to pretend it wasn't happening. She knew she had an obligation to make it right now that she was aware of the issue, but she also had the added pressure of time working against her. She had less than forty-eight hours to find a viable solution before she would be leaving again.

A bitter voice suddenly cut into her jumbled thoughts. "You'd think she'd have a better method than this, you know?" her partner grumbled.

Fate rose to her feet when she heard Teana's complaint, not having realized the office door was now open beside her. Her partner was standing outside the doorway and holding a cotton ball at the inner bend of her elbow where a blood sample had been drawn.

"I think Shamal is just traditional," Fate replied with a shrug.

The blond doctor made her appearance in the doorway and waved her next patient inside. "You're up next, Fate. Let's go."

"Good luck," Teana said over her shoulder as she walked away. "I'll be in the locker room when you're done."

Fate entered the office and Shamal hurriedly shut the door behind them before gesturing to the exam table a few feet away. In those motions, Fate could sense the doctor was probably swamped with a heavy workload that day, no doubt facing a lot of physicals for Enforcers leaving the day after tomorrow.

"Go ahead and remove your jacket and make yourself comfortable," she instructed as she scurried around the room.

The paper covering the examination table crinkled loudly when Fate sat down on top of it. She removed her Enforcer jacket and folded it neatly in her lap before placing it on the seat behind her. She turned her attention to unbuttoning the left sleeve of her white uniform blouse next while she waited patiently for the exam to begin.

Shamal soon rolled her stool away from her desk towards the examination table, coming to her usual spot in front of her patient. She placed the tips of her stethoscope into her ears and reached for the blood pressure cuff hanging from the vitals machine nearby.

"Bardiche has a heart rate monitor- " Fate began to say.

The seasoned doctor chuckled a little and put the stethoscope chestpiece under the cuff. "It only gives us the most basic measurements. You'd be surprised at what we catch when we see you guys like this. It's good to be assessed with two hands occasionally."

Fate hummed lowly and looked towards the blood pressure monitor beside her. "Maybe you'll find something wrong with me and I won't have to go on this mission after all..." she muttered.

"Woooow," Shamal responded lightly, her eyes growing playfully wide. She moved the end of the stethoscope to the middle of Fate's back next. "I never thought I would hear a comment like that from Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown. Deep breath for me, please? And... exhale."

Fate smiled weakly afterwards. "I probably shouldn't be saying things like that, huh?"

"I don't think it's a problem," Shamal smiled and put the cuff back on the hook. "In fact, I'd be more worried if you _didn't_ want to stay now after your recent developments. But unfortunately for you, your blood pressure is perfectly normal. I'm sorry to break the bad news, but I must deem you fit for full duty."

The Enforcer stayed quiet as Shamal slid towards a nearby cabinet to retrieve the needles and vials to take a blood sample next. With her back still turned she mentioned over her shoulder, "You know, it's not always physical pain that's the problem. Whatever you need to get off your chest, you're welcome to share here. It won't leave this room."

Fated nodded that she understood as the doctor returned to the spot in front her. Shamal pulled the sleeve of her blouse up and concentrated on exposing her vein for the sample. "Well..." Fate began, "this morning Nanoha had a bad dream, and I'm pretty sure it was about me and my job. She cried for a really long time after. It took her a while to get back to sleep."

"Just a little prick..." Shamal at first said as she inserted the needle. Once the blood sample was being collected, she gave Fate her attention again. "So you're worried about a dream that made her cry?"

When Shamal removed the needle, Fate moved her hand to hold the cotton gauze in place and applied pressure. "No, that's not really what I'm worried about, I guess."

"Then what's the issue?"

Fate paused, a vulnerable feeling coming over her. Admitting her fears out loud was something she had struggled with her whole life. "I-I guess... that it could end up being too hard on her, maybe?" she eventually said in a low voice. "She seemed so sad this morning, but she was also trying really hard to hide it from me. I could tell."

Shamal silently slid her stool away so that she could dispose of the needles in the hazardous materials container. As she placed Fate's sample in the machine across the room for analysis, she recalled what Hayate had told her about her conversation at lunch with Nanoha that previous day. Shamal was privy to the instructor's feelings and insecurities regarding Fate's upcoming mission, which left her with the delicate task of giving advice without revealing too much of Nanoha's personal struggles in the process.

"Well, this certainly is a tough one..." she murmured under her breath.

"What was that, Shamal?"

The doctor made a few keystrokes and returned to her stool, sliding across the floor to face Fate again. She clasped her hands in her lap and met with Fate's eyes directly. "As of right now, all I can tell you is that there really is no right or wrong answer in all this."

Fate furled her eyebrows slightly. That wasn't quite the answer she had been expecting. "There isn't?" she asked skeptically.

"No-pe," Shamal replied, slowly emphasizing both parts of the word. "All you can do is decide which option is the most fair and will cause the least amount of pain for everyone involved."

With that bit of general advice, Shamal gave her patient a final pat on the knee in encouragement and quickly stood up again. Fate took the hint and rose from the examination table, albeit at a significantly slower pace. She was a bit shell-shocked and perhaps even more confused about what to do in her situation now.

"Well, wait... Do you think I should talk to Nanoha about how she really feels or not?"

Shamal shrugged. "I don't know. Are you prepared to hear her answer and bear the consequences of it, considering the fact that you're about to leave?"

Fate's mouth opened and she made a motion to respond, but she realized she had no clear thoughts to give voice to at that moment. It was true. She could hear all the truth she wanted from Nanoha, but if she didn't have a solution to make things better in return, then... what did she expect to happen? Except the potential of making the situation much worse, perhaps.

A sharp knock suddenly rang out against the office door. Shamal immediately turned on her heel to cross the room to answer it. Fate's stepped beside the examination table and glanced into the hallway when the door opened, and her eyes grew even wider when she caught sight of who the visitor was on the other side.

"Here are the personnel files you asked for, Shamal," Ginga said.

"Thank you," she replied, taking the brown files that were now being presented to her across the threshold. She started scanning the first file in the pile for information and failed to notice the look of panic now apparent on Fate's face.

Hazel eyes glanced past the doctor in the doorway, and Ginga soon spotted the patient standing inside staring back at her. She recognized a look of distress on Fate's face and genuine concern passed over her own features. She made a small motion forward in her direction out of habit to check on her. She then stopped herself after the slip, remembering her place in Fate's life now. She wordlessly turned to walk back down the hallway as quickly as she could.

With that interaction, Shamal faced Fate again, her lips now pressed in a tight smile. She gestured with her hand for her to exit her office. "Well, I do believe you have quite a few messes to tend to before you leave, Fate. I wish you the best of luck with all of them."

Fate grabbed her Enforcer jacket from the examination table in a rush and put her arms through the sleeves. It was the first time she had seen Ginga alone since their altercation and she knew this might be her only chance to talk to her. She began to button the jacket as quickly as she could, knowing she couldn't leave Shamal's office without being in full uniform.

After what felt like an eternity to line up and fasten the buttons, Fate tore out the door, finding her legs moving faster than her mind was. What was she even going to say to her ex-partner if she did indeed catch up to her? Was she just setting herself up to make it worse between them as well? She would have to cross that bridge when she got there, she figured.

Burgundy eyes quickly scanned the large lobby in front of her, searching in all directions. There, near the elevators. She could see Ginga's violet-hair by the other side of the fountain now. Her pace was fast but Fate's legs were longer. She could catch up to her if she moved fast enough.

"Enforcer Harlaown! Good morning!"

Fate stopped in her tracks and spun around to face the glass staircase behind her. Hayate and Carim Gracia were descending the steps in stride, and both were focused solely on her. From the corner of her eye, Fate could now make out Ginga getting into the elevator to go back upstairs. She had missed her chance after all.

"Good morning ma'am," Fate replied with a gracious smile. She turned to Hayate next and bowed slightly. "Commander."

"We were just about to retrieve you from Shamal's office," Hayate informed her. "We have to start screening the potential candidates to replace Ginga on your team. Think you can meet us down at the training grounds?"

"Yes, of course," she replied, although she was suddenly experiencing a deeper sense of dread with the task. This was just one more event leading up to her inevitable departure.

"Excellent!" Carim said as she clapped her hands together. "The Council is anxious to see what your team is capable of as soon as possible."

Hayate gave both women a tense smile. "Great! I'll just uh, get my new assistant to start setting up the simulation immediately. I'll see you soon, Fate."

"No problem," she responded with a wave, her heart sinking further. "I'll go get Teana from the locker room and we'll meet you there."

**oOOOo**

Fate squinted hard as the sun relentlessly blazed down on her. She retrieved her sunglasses from her jacket pocket and put them on, seeking any relief she could from it. The sunlight was so intense it felt nearly blinding, which only aggravated her headache that had formed soon after she had left Shamal's office. She wanted to blame it on the blood donation she had made less than an hour prior, but she knew a more probable explanation was the compounding stress she was experiencing that morning.

To add to it, a brand new problem had just presented itself on the spare training grounds. She and Hayate were standing on the raised instructor platform that overlooked the field, silently assessing the current situation between Subaru and Teana below them. The two were standing by and awaiting further instructions, and in the process they were both finding everything else on the planet more interesting than each other. Ginga was stationed at the controls in the observation booth high above them all. The tension was thick for everyone involved.

"Well, this is just _peachy_," Hayate groans. A quick wave of her hand brought up her transmitter in front of her. After a few keystrokes, Ginga's face appeared in profile on her screen. "Hey, how the hell is your sister at the top of the candidates list all of a sudden?"

Ginga did not look over to acknowledge her and instead continued to push buttons on the control panel. "She just finished her qualification packet and is now the closest match to my statistics, according to the computer. A lot of her classmates showed up on the list this morning."

Hayate sighed loudly in response to her answer, making her feelings about the situation clearly known. "Yeah, but you could have skipped over her, considering the situation she has with Teana here."

"Negative," Ginga replied mechanically. "Filtering out candidates is above my paygrade, Commander."

"Damnit!" the brunette cried. She shook her a fist in frustration towards the screen and then exited her screen in a huff. Fate glanced above her towards the observation booth. Through the reinforced windows, she could faintly see the corners of Ginga's mouth turning upward as she tried to suppress a smile.

Hayate turned her attention to the field again. "Okay, Fate. Do you think we can make this work?"

"There's no telling," she replied honestly. "All we can do is try."

"Well, we have to try hard. Carim says the Council wants to see this combination work. They'll be reviewing the statistics after we're done here."

High above the training field, the drone positioned to broadcast the simulation progress changed from a 'STANDBY' to a 'READY' status. Hayate pulled up her transmitter once again to monitor the statistics of the session closely.

"Let's start with a simple formation with you three," she instructed Fate. "I want to see if these two can work together at all. Maybe you can run some interference if things get out of hand. We'll try something more complicated if it goes okay."

Fate nodded that she understood and flew to her position between the two. Teana touched the corner of her eye to remind her leader to lose the sunglasses. Fate hastily removed the non-regulation item and put them back in her jacket pocket. She then pointed across the field with Bardiche.

"We'll start with a basic flanking movement. Subaru, you go high for a better position on the hill so you can take out the largest drone. Teana, cover her for any ground assaults. I'll clear a path from any air attacks."

"Got it!" the two replied in unison and set their devices. The three stayed in their ready positions until the indicator above changed to a 'GO' status. An aqua aura flickered and rotated first under Subaru.

"Wing Road!" she yelled and punched her fist to the ground to create several blue paths in the sky around them. Teana took to running up the first road beside her to get a better position against the ground assault drones. Fate flew several feet in the lead and charged Bardiche. Subaru started up her predetermined path that ended at the hill she had been assigned to cover.

Shario Finieno, one of Fate's partners on specialty cases, had extensively studied the drones that the new terrorist group used as they laid siege to areas around the planet they were currently invading. She and her team had painstakingly designed replicas for the Enforcers to train on before they faced them in real combat. The drones were crude in comparison to the ones used during the JS Incident, similar to pipe bombs and IED's used on Earth with a protective magic barrier as a defense mechanism. They could just as devastating at causing bodily harm if one was not prepared though, especially if the victims did not possess any magical power themselves. The shrapnel hurled after their detonation had been a contributing factor to many of the victims' deaths that had been reported to TSAB.

Fate had bared witness to those deaths in several pictures and documents during their numerous meetings and briefings yesterday. The images of mangled bodies began to invade her consciousness now. Her grip on Bardiche tightened to the point her knuckles turned white.

There had been children, more than she could bring herself to count. And with those images replaying in her mind, her vision suddenly flashed red and her mind turned white hot.

When the first three drones appeared in front of Fate, she set Bardiche and unleashed an 'Arc Saber' to destroy them. The blast she emitted surprised even her, sending her arm recoiling backwards with the force. The drones disintegrated instantly, as well as quite a few trees behind them. Fate's eyes grew wide as she assessed the huge crater that remained in her wake.

Teana's face immediately appeared beside her via Bardiche's communicator. "Hey, ease up Fate. This is practice, after all."

Fate nodded blankly and adjusted her grip. It wasn't the first time her partner had to remind her of limits. Two more drones suddenly appeared behind her. She spun around and shot them down, again using too much force in the process and blasting a giant hole in the ground like before. She gave a low growl in frustration and vowed to make sure her next blasts would be more controlled.

By the end of the simulation, Fate had reigned in her power and Subaru had made it to the designated hill to destroy her intended target. Teana's shooting had been spot on and she covered Subaru's back without fail. After the session was complete, the three returned so Hayate could go over the statistics with them. The two younger women took to their original spots on the field and promptly resumed avoiding all eye contact with each other.

Hayate called Fate to join her on the instructor platform again. "Well, that was interesting. In a way, I kind of wish that hadn't gone so well with Subaru. It would've made this decision a lot easier."

Fate nodded in agreement. "Um-hmm. It won't be the times we're fighting together that will be the issue. It will be difficult when we try to live together afterward."

"No kidding," Hayate sighed. "I would try to force the two to work it out but... I've been asked to hold off on that for now."

It took a moment for Fate to decipher what Hayate's statement meant exactly. Her eyes eventually turned towards the booth above them again. At that moment, Ginga had her chin cupped in her hand with her elbow resting on the console, thoughtfully observing the scene with Hayate below her. Fate recognized the stance all too well, having seen it countless times during interrogations of suspects in previous cases they worked together. Her ex-partner assumed that position when she knew she had the upper hand in a situation, and she was just waiting patiently for the other person's next move.

"Well, we should probably try a few more simulations -" Fate started to suggest, turning back towards the field again. Hayate was quick to put a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her from floating away too fast.

"Hold up there, Fate. After that second blast, I had Ginga place a higher limiter on Bardiche. Even with it you were hitting maximum each time. Would you like to discuss your excessive use of power against some practice drones?"

Fate looked down at Bardiche in confusion. She hadn't noticed that her power levels were been manipulated externally in that way. She thought she had been controlling her own strength the entire time.

"Oh..."

Hayate's features softened a bit. "I get it Fate. I do. These are some of the worst people we've ever gone after, but I can't have you letting your anger at them get the best of your judgment. You can't lose control like that."

"I'm sorry." The blond turned her eyes downward. "I... I guess I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"I don't doubt that, but the Council will be quick to pull even _you_ off this mission if they sense you're having issues with your performance. It's that important. Now I can hide the limiter thing this one time, but when you come back tomorrow, I expect a flawless run. Okay?"

"Okay, Hayate."

The commander waved her hand to pull up her transmitter screen once more. Ginga's face soon appeared in front of her again. "That's all for today. We'll do more practice runs with Subaru tomorrow morning."

"You're the boss," she replied with a shrug. "I'll start shutting her down."

Fate turned away to transform out of her combat gear and back into her standard Enforcer uniform. She immediately put her sunglasses on again as soon as she could. Her headache had now moved to the back of her eyes and she needed some relief. It was definitely a stress headache, and Hayate's scolding did nothing to ease the tension she was experiencing.

"_...will be quick to pull even you off this mission... issues with your performance..."_

Crimson eyes suddenly grew wide as the words replayed in her mind. In Hayate's warning, she had just unknowingly given Fate a way out of the next mission. It was an unexpected chance to fix things after all, she realized. The only decision the Enforcer was left to make now was whether she would take the advantage of that opportunity or not.

**oOOOo **

Fate settled into the passenger seat and brought up Bardiche's screen with the wave of her hand. She selected Nanoha's device from her 'favorite contacts' list to send her a quick message - "_Hey, I'm headed home now. See you in a few._"

Teana pulled her small SUV onto the freeway and merged into the carpool lane. By the time the two had finished with their last meeting of the day, rush hour traffic had long been cleared up. Even though the candidate selection process with Subaru had been postponed until the following morning, there was still plenty the Enforcers needed to accomplish during the remainder of the workday. And when it became apparent that they would be pulling overtime that evening, Fate told Nanoha to head home without her so that she wouldn't be late in picking up Vivio from school.

Several of the Church's top researchers held lengthy conferences and seminars with very few breaks in between. The Enforcers learned more details about the planet they would be spending a majority of their time on, along with this new terrorist cell that was committing acts tantamount to genocide. They also learned more about the indigenous people who were being targeted for reasons not yet fully understood by the Bureau. The victims were very similar to humans on Earth, although their society was less advanced in many ways and they had very few mages originating from their ranks. They were 'easy targets', as one presenter had simply stated.

Teana and Fate rode together in silence towards her home, both exhausted and weighed down with their own personal burdens. Fate's head felt like it was spinning as she considered her options on a seemingly endless loop. She had spent a great deal of time that day learning about the terrorists and victims for a mission she was now considering abandoning. Teana seemed to be in no mood to talk either, and Fate knew she most likely had Subaru at the forefront of her mind. It was a turn of events that would rock anybody's world in her shoes.

It wasn't until Teana had pulled into Fate's driveway, and the blond was exiting the vehicle, did either break the silence. "Thanks for the ride tonight, Teana. I appreciate it."

"Hey wait, hang on on second," Teana said before Fate could shut the door. She leaned across the middle console to be able to see her better. "Whatever it is you're worried about, make sure you talk to Nanoha about it, okay? Don't try to take it on without her."

Fate paused, forced to wonder how much her intuitive partner sensed was on her mind. She eventually gave her a small smile. "Of course. See you tomorrow."

The porch light was already on in anticipation of Fate's arrival, even though it could barely be considered dusk outside. She figured Nanoha must have turned it on right as she got home to make sure she wouldn't forget it. She dropped her keys on the ground twice as she sifted through them in her attempt to unlock the front door. Her body felt drained, which in turn was making her clumsy. Teana pulled out of the driveway once she saw Fate open her front door. She waved goodbye through the windshield and began the short journey back to her own place for the evening.

Once Fate crossed the threshold into her home, some of her energy seemed to be restored. The house smelled of Nanoha's cooking, something Fate missed so very much when she was away. The food on the ship was a poor substitute since most of what was served was heated from a frozen state and lacked in flavor. She usually enjoyed the local cuisine even less on whichever foreign planet they were stationed on at the time. Advanced societies had very streamlined production processes to genetically modify their food. She always craved fresh fruits and vegetables and simple ingredients coming together to make the delicious dishes she was blessed with at home.

She made a stop at the kitchen first to look for her family. The room was currently unoccupied, but she did notice the casserole dish cooling on a potholder on the counter. It looked like vegetable lasagna, one of Vivio's favorite dishes. Their daughter must have asked for it specifically on their way home that evening.

She passed by the living room next and discovered it too was empty. She moved on to the hallway and found Vivio's door to be partially open. Through the crack, Fate spotted the spunky girl dancing to her favorite video game, her dirty blond hair swaying back and forth with giant neon pink headphones wrapped around her head. Fate chuckled lightly at the sight before stepping away to head further down the hallway.

Fate stopped outside their partially open bedroom door and heard sounds of Nanoha shuffling around inside. She silently opened the door and noticed her hard-shelled suitcase was sitting in the middle of their bed. Nanoha hadn't noticed Fate's arrival as she crossed the room with a few shirts in her hand. Fate leaned against the door frame and watched her work. Nanoha had removed her instructor jacket and necktie, leaving her in just an untucked white blouse, short blue skirt, and thigh-high white stockings.

"You're leaving me, Nanoha?" she joked.

Nanoha nearly jumped out of her skin at first. She rolled her eyes and gave Fate and exasperated look. "You scared me half to death, Fate-chan!"

"Wait, that's my stuff," Fate then said and pointed to the clothes in her hands. "I doubt they're going to fit you, but you can go ahead and take them if you want."

Nanoha finally laughed a little and placed the clothes beside the suitcase. "Stop teasing me. I know you always pack a couple nights before you leave. I thought I'd help you get started since you were running late tonight."

Fate nodded and pulled away from the doorway. She quietly shut the door behind her and walked towards the bed to join Nanoha in front of the suitcase. "Thank you. I guess we've done this so many times we could do it blindfolded, huh?"

"Um-hmm," Nanoha agreed and started carefully folding the shirts. "It's like being on autopilot almost."

"It feels a little different this time, though. Don't you think?"

The hands busy tending to the clothes slowed significantly. Nanoha eventually stopped and gripped the shirt tighter in hands. "Yes, it does," she finally admitted.

Fate reached forward and gently took the shirt away from her. Nanoha looked towards Fate tentatively, feeling both cautious and confused at the gesture. Sapphire steadily matched her crimson gaze, although Fate knew if she wanted a battle of wills, she was somewhat handicapped in the fight. Something heavy was beginning to brew between them. It felt like the atmosphere was charging, and all they needed was a spark to ignite everything completely.

Nanoha was first to look away. She turned her eyes to the shirt Fate had just taken away from her.

"You didn't want to pack that shirt this time?" she attempted to joke.

Fate placed the shirt down on the bed beside the suitcase. "I was hoping we could talk first."

"Um..." Nanoha at first replied in hesitation. Fate watched her eyes flicker towards the bedroom door, like she may be searching for a sudden escape. "What's to talk about?"

"About this morning."

Nanoha shrugged. "I had a bad dream. It was nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing. You were crying a lot."

Those defiant eyes flashed and Fate immediately knew she had pushed too far. Nanoha moved past her and headed towards the bedroom door. "Look, dinner's ready, Fate-chan. Let's just go eat first and we can discuss this later."

Fate ran after her and grabbed her by the arm as gently as she could to stop her. Nanoha didn't make any attempts to try to get out of Fate's grasp, and instead just stood there and waited. She bit her lip and clenched her fists, an attempt to refrain from turning into the same bumbling mess she had become that morning in bed. She felt embarrassed by her actions. Weak. She was tired of always wanting to cry, and right now she was really hating the fact the tears were threatening to fall once again.

"I'm sorry, Nanoha," Fate tried. The apology was automatic, the guilt Fate was so accustomed to feeling was always the first emotion to make an appearance. She attempted to turn Nanoha to face her and the smaller woman obliged. Fate moved her hand up her arm, past her shoulder, and brushed her hand against her cheek. She placed the other on the opposite side as well, drawing her in closer.

"I'm sorry..." she repeated in a whisper. "I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just want to talk. I'm sorry."

Fate wrapped her arms around her, almost afraid to let her go. To have Nanoha pull away from her again. But she still did. Two hands eventually came to Fate's chest and pushed gently, enough to take back some of her space. Nanoha walked a few feet towards the bathroom before turning around again.

"I should be apologizing to you, actually," she then said. Her voice was cracking and she had to take a deep breath to try to calm herself down.

"Why?"

Nanoha shook her head, frustration at herself growing. "For breaking down this morning. I'm trying to be strong for you. I didn't want you to see me like that and start worrying. You don't need that right now."

Fate took a few steps forward. "I don't need that right now?" she repeated, confused. "But if I don't know what you're feeling, how can I help you?"

Nanoha gave a bitter smile, one that lasted just a second before it was gone."It doesn't work like that this time. You can't help me with this, Fate-chan,"

The words felt like a slap across the face, and Fate could feel herself visibly shaken by them. Nanoha groaned when she noticed her reaction to her statement. She shielded her eyes in frustration at the way the conversation was dissolving so quickly.

"Ugh, that didn't come out right," she then tried to say.

Fate merely looked to the floor and nodded. She had tried to practice this conversation in her mind throughout the day, but it wasn't turning out anything like she had expected. She was making it worse between them after all. "It's okay. I get it," she responded quietly.

A tense silence followed and Fate wasn't sure what to do next. A part of her wanted to tell Nanoha of the training session that day and of Hayate's warning afterward. She wanted to share that she had the potential to fix this situation between them. She just had to pull the trigger and let the chips fall where they may. Her instincts were screaming at her to stay quiet about it for now though. There was no way Nanoha was going to be receptive to the idea, no matter what argument Fate could attempt to make in the plan's defense.

Nanoha watched Fate's struggle from across the room, and the look on her face in that moment was heartbreaking. She crossed her arms across her chest guardedly and closed the remaining distance between them. She bent down to meet Fate's eyes and wouldn't move until she had accomplished her goal. When Fate finally brought her eyes up to meet hers, she noticed Nanoha's were red and glassy. She looked ready to break any second.

"Fate-chan..." she began, "there's no point in worrying about the things we can't change. Or for you feeling guilty because you have to go in a few days. All we should be doing right now is enjoying what time we have left together."

"Well yeah, but what if I could -" Fate started, but was cut off when Nanoha reached up to grab her by both lapels of her jacket. The sudden action was followed by Nanoha pushing up and into her, sealing her protests by capturing Fate's lips with her own. The blond froze momentarily until Nanoha pushed in harder against her, making it clear that the discussion was indeed over.

Fate soon returned in earnest herself, sliding her hands tightly around Nanoha's waist. She gently ran her tongue along Nanoha's bottom lip, hoping to deepen their connection. Nanoha drew in a breath and allowed her access, that fire now igniting between them that was already threatening to consuming the two completely.

Nanoha's hands moved in a rush to unbutton the Enforcer jacket in front of her. She grabbed the thick black material in her hands and pulled it off her shoulders in one hard motion. Fate wasted no time in getting the jacket off her body before she too was pushing back. Nanoha found herself backed up against the wall behind her. She wove her fingers into Fate's hair to draw her in further, to keep her as close as possible.

The moment was becoming more desperate as they both just wanted to _feel_ each other, but there was too much cloth between them barring it. Fate hands moved fast and her desire to have the woman in front of her overcame her restraint, and Nanoha's blouse lost a few buttons in the the process.

The sound of the small pieces falling onto the floor seemed to cause Fate to falter slightly. She blinked twice, realizing she may have gone too far again. Nanoha's hands squeezed hard and drew her back in, fistfuls of blond hair now in her grasp. "No, don't do that..." she pleaded for her not to withdraw from this. "Stay with me."

Her words shot waves of desire through Fate once more. She moved her attention to Nanoha's neck and tasted the exposed skin of her collarbone. Her hand grasped her by the back of her neck and her fingers curled around the copper strands. Nanoha wanted Fate to understand her want for her. Her _need_ for her. That she belonged to her in all ways and however she wanted, especially in that moment. She guided her right hand to the top of her inner thigh below her skirt.

"Please..." she begged. "Please, Fate...chan..."

Fate kept their lips close when she first touched her, feeling Nanoha's ragged breath against her own. And when Fate slid her hand under the soft white cloth and entered inside, Nanoha cried out softly. Fate covered her whimpers and a louder moan with her mouth when she moved her leg between Nanoha's for leverage, pinning her in place.

Nanoha gripped Fate's wrist, nearly digging her fingernails into the smooth skin as the pressure continued to build. She wasn't sure how it all happened so fast, but her mind was now solely focused on the physical bliss, finding herself melting into Fate's strong arms. Her warmth. The skillful movements inside her, pushing as deep as she could.

Fate took a sharp breath when she felt pulsing around her fingers. "Nano...ha..." she whispered desperately. The insecurities, the second-guessing, the feeling that she was abandoning the most important person to her were all gone with that sensation. In that moment, they were connected as one and everything was as it should be in their world.

She watched Nanoha's face tense, a silent cry as she balanced on the edge for a breathless moment. And when she fell, she took Fate with her. They moved and breathed in sync through it with their connected lips, gasps escaping briefly from between them before they reconnected again and again.

Nanoha and Fate both relieved their grips on each other when the waves fully passed, their movements much slower now. Recovering together. Fate felt Nanoha's hand move across her cheek, her eyes searching intently. Seeking understanding in Fate's and finding just what she was looking for. But what she didn't know, as the two exchanged soft kisses and gentle touches in the painless afterglow, was this was just one more factor in Fate's decision...

...and she wasn't about to let the moments they shared together like this go anytime soon.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you again to everyone for your follows and thoughtful reviews! **Zoro50** asked if my new life in the Navy inspired my writing in this story. The answer is _absolutely_. I joke with my wife that she is my muse now (she helped me break the writer's block I had been suffering from for over a year there. It's a real thing and it's awful). But a lot of the emotions I was attempting to convey in the last chapters with Nanoha were inspired by her and what she experiences as a Navy partner/wife. And this chapter, of course, is a reflection of some of my own personal struggles I dealt with before I left for boot camp at the beginning of the year.

That's it for now. The next few chapters will be pretty intense, so be ready for that. See you soon! ~Nissanity~


	5. Chapter 5 - Fallen Force Part 1

**A/N: **This chapter/day is another I had to break up into two parts. What can I say, it was a busy day for them =)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

**UNBREAKABLE**

by : ~Nissanity~

**Chapter 5 – ****_Fallen Force (Part 1)_**

* * *

_Day 4_

Her skin looked like porcelain bathed in the white-silvery glow of the moonlight. Her body trembled beneath her in response to the tender and persistent touches. Her voice whispered her name between the small gasps. They were all mental snapshots Fate was taking, reserving the images and sounds in a sacred place in her memories.

Nanoha had silently woken her up early that morning, requesting Fate's attention in the way that only she could give. Fate let her have all of her time that she wanted, and she took what she gave equally in return. In Nanoha's features, she found her expressions hauntingly beautiful. And in her voice, she was captivated by the melodic inflection. She understood how fortunate she was that _she_ was the only one in this existence who was allowed to know Nanoha in this most intimate way.

She cradled her through it, always attentive. And now seated together after the passion, in the middle of their bed with Nanoha's legs positioned around her waist and her lips softly trailing along her neck, Fate recognized something different inside of herself. A stillness. A sense of fulfillment. Nanoha had always been the most important person in the world to her, but now – she realized she completed her in every way.

"I love you."

The words flowed naturally. She sensed she had born to say them, in that moment, to their intended recipient. The person who saved her so many years ago, and who Fate still lived for to that day. She always loved her_,_ perhaps. But insecurities and lack of clarity of her own emotions always held Fate back from fully _knowing_ what she was feeling for far too long.

Nanoha's breath stopped besides Fate's ear after the declaration. Her hands that had been running through her hair ceased moving as well. "What...?" she whispered back, a slight catch in her voice.

"I love you, Nanoha."

She hesitated a moment before pulling back to face Fate directly. She heard the words but feared they weren't meant with the same intensity she had recognized in herself a few days prior.

"How do you love me?" Nanoha asked her quietly.

Fate paused at first in her response to the question, her burgundy eyes still fixed with the sky blue set in front of her. She eventually gave her that crooked smile, the words to follow expressing just how she felt about the beautiful soul in front of her.

"I love you," she said again, "with everything I have in me to do so. I couldn't have this life now and not love you for it. And I'll always find my way back to you, because of that love. My existence would be meaningless without it."

Nanoha took a sharp breath and held it. "Oh... god..." she gasped. She failed with her next response, her mouth opening with her voice unable to come through. She resorted to physically reciprocating her feelings, leaning forward and sealing Fate's lips with her own. She pressed hard against her, never feeling close enough.

"Nano...ha..." Fate breathed out, her heart fluttering so very fast in her chest now.

"I love you, too," she said against her mouth, the words finally surfacing. "I love you, Fate-chan... I love you so much."

And with that, Fate's decision about leaving the next day was finalized. She was ready to risk everything to stay right where she was, to put it all on the line so she wouldn't miss another minute with her. She would pull the trigger on her career and pay whatever price necessary. No one was ever going to take this away from them now.

**oOOOo**

Hayate used her hand to shield her eyes against the bright morning sun as she looked out across the training grounds. Fate stood silently beside her on the platform, her face expressionless. Subaru and Teana had resumed their same positions on the field as the day before. Fate felt a sense of deja vu while watching the scene, although she did notice Subaru sneaking glances here and there at the stubborn woman to her left. It was progress, at least.

The commander was growing more impatient with each passing minute. It seemed to be taking longer than usual to set up the training field, and she eventually looked towards the booth above them in exasperation. "What the...? Hey, what's taking so long up there?!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice.

Ginga leaned over the controls and shrugged back at first. She then made a motion that she couldn't hear her through the reinforced glass by grabbing her right earlobe. "_I can't hear you_," she mouthed back.

"...kidding me right now..." Hayate muttered and brought up her transmitter screen. When Ginga appeared, she held her arms out towards her. "I said, what's taking so long? We have things to do today."

"The system is configuring at its normal speed, Hay – Commander," she corrected herself. She pointed down to a status indicator on the console beside her as proof.

"Can't you make it go any faster?" she groaned back. "Or is that above your paygrade to?"

Ginga blinked twice, and Fate could tell she didn't particularly enjoy that slight against her. There was certainly a new tension brewing between the two that morning. "No, I can't make it _go_ any faster," she said, her teeth slightly gritted together. "It's going to boot up as fast as -"

Hayate shut down the screen on her assistant mid-sentence. She turned her attention to Teana and Subaru on the field instead and waved her hand in the air between them. "You two! Stop being so goddamn awkward already!"

Fate knew she was next and braced herself. Hayate placed a firm hand on her shoulder and gripped it hard. "Okay, Fate. I've had a really stressful morning so far. If you care about me as your friend at all, you'll control your power levels this time. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure," Fate responded halfheartedly. She performed 'Sonic Move' and instantly reappeared between Teana and Subaru to avoid any more requests from her. As before, the indicator above them soon changed from a 'READY' status to a 'SET' status. They were performing the same configuration as the day before with Fate leading the air defense and Teana covering Subaru from ground assaults.

When the first set of drones appeared on the ground, Fate flew directly in front of Teana's path before she could prepare any of her bullets. She charged Bardiche quickly and began firing her own rounds towards them. Wave after wave of blasts landed all around the drones without actually hitting any of them. Her shots were resoundingly inaccurate and wasteful of her valuable magic due to her poor aim. Fate knew the method made her look careless and was also effective in avoiding the limiter being placed on her again, since all her shots were set well below the maximum allowable limit.

Teana's face immediately appeared on Bardiche's transmitter beside her like the day before. "What are you, drunk or something?! Cut it out, Fate!"

"My apologies, Teana," she replied calmly and shut down the screen. Four drones appeared above her next. Fate repeated the process of firing entirely too many rounds towards them, her yellow bullets flying harmlessly out into the atmosphere.

Four precisely-aimed orange bullets suddenly raced past Fate's head and destroyed the targets above her, forcing her to raise her cloak to shield herself from the fragments of the explosions. She turned and looked down at Teana in shock after the smoke had cleared. Her partner was staring back at her angrily from her position on Subaru's path below.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Subaru closing in on her designated hill to take out the largest drone she had been assigned to. Fate performed 'Sonic Move' again to beat her to a higher position and take the target on herself. Subaru stood by helplessly and shrugged in Hayate's direction while Fate sent weak rounds towards it, all bouncing harmlessly off the protective magic barrier. The drone eventually exploded when Fate got too close, taking her down in the process. She flew backwards a hundred feet and landed with a loud thud at the base of a nearby tree.

Teana and Subaru rushed over to her side, and even Hayate flew across the training field to check on Fate after the lackluster performance. The top-rated Enforcer was now laying motionless in a smoldering, soiled heap in the tall grass. The three huddled over her in a circle to assess the damage.

"Are you okay, Fate?" Subaru asked tentatively.

Fate groaned and pulled herself up on her elbows. Her ears were still ringing slightly from the blast. "Did I pass this time?" she asked, one eye open in Hayate's direction.

Hayate bent over further and grabbed Fate by the lapels of her jacket. "Of course you didn't pass, you idiot!" she yelled in her face.

"Damn..." the blond grumbled. She fell back heavily against the ground when the commander let her out of her grasp.

Hayate stood up straight again and crossed her arms in anger. "Don't think for two seconds we don't realize what you're doing here," she warned, her voice now sounding dangerously low.

The indicator light above the training grounds unexpectedly switched from its green 'GO' status to a dark red 'ERROR'. The whole field was suddenly bathed in an ominous, pulsating red hue. Hayate immediately pulled up her transmitter.

"What happened?" she asked her assistant.

Ginga shook her head, looking dumbfounded at the controls in front of her. "I'm not sure. The system just crashed. I'm trying to figure it out."

"No kidding," Hayate muttered while looking around the eerie scene. She then paused and let a small smile cross her lips while looking towards the booth in the distance. "Wait a minute. What about the data from this session?"

"Um..." Ginga pressed a few buttons. "Nope, it's all gone. Everything from the session has disappeared."

Hayate openly smirked down at Fate. "Well, what do you know? It looks like we get a do-over. We'll be coming back here after lunch to try again. And everyone will be _prepared_ too, or so help me god..."

With that, Hayate stormed off towards the booth to help Ginga try to fix the error. Teana and Subaru both extended their hands down to assist Fate up to her feet.

"Wanna talk about it?" Teana asked as she brushed blades of grass off Fate's back for her.

Fate shook her head. She transformed back into her Enforcer uniform and fished her sunglasses out of her jacket pocket to mask her eyes. "No, not really," she replied and started to walk in the direction of headquarters again. "I just need a minute. I'll see you guys in a little bit."

Teana and Subaru watched her walk away without trying to stop her, letting her have all the space she felt she needed.

**oOOOo**

Fate sat down in defeat on the wooden bench in the locker room and muttered a few expletives under her breath. She then sunk her face into her hands and tried to control her frustration. She knew that the simulation was probably her only opportunity to get kicked off the mission for a subpar performance. Trying it again another time would be blatantly obvious that she was doing it on purpose. She would have to figure out something else.

Bardiche illuminated on the bench beside her. "_Incoming alert, Sir,_" the device announced. Fate waved her hand once in the air and looked at the transmitter through her splayed fingers. She groaned loudly when she read the new message appearing on the screen.

"_Team A: Emergency meeting in Conference Room C in 10 minutes – Commander Yagami_."

A locker door slammed shut a few rows behind Fate, the clanging metal echoing off the tiled walls around her. She pulled her head up and looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps approaching a few seconds later. She didn't realize anyone else was in the locker room with her.

"Rough day?" the gruff voice asked her.

"You could say that, I guess."

Signum walked a few more steps to stand in front of the wooden bench next to Fate. She then let the large back duffel bag in her hand drop loudly between their feet. Fate recognized the luggage. It was what Signum used for travel when she was put on special assignment with the Enforcers.

"I just came to get my bag from my locker," she informed Fate before she could ask.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yes, I believe so," she replied. She crossed her arms over her broad chest. "Apparently I'm going where you're not willing to. Hayate told me about that little stunt you just pulled out on the field. I'm going to be your replacement on the team if this keeps up."

The blond continued to stare at the bag in between them. She couldn't bring herself to look up at Signum again, to witness the look of disappointment in her mentor's eyes. "My replacement, huh?" she asked, her voice quiet and withdrawn.

"Um-hmm. Actually, Hayate saw this coming and was already prepared for it. That's why I was shadowing your team during all the meetings and conferences this week. So that when you flaked out, she wouldn't be struggling to replace you at the last minute."

Fate's eyes narrowed and she began to recall the week's events. Signum _had_ been there during the first meeting with Carim, hadn't she? And she had been there during the lectures and conferences in the days afterward as well, always taking notes and paying close attention to the details of the terrorists and their victims. Fate figured she had been assigned a special support task, perhaps research or strategic planning.

She had to wonder how much had she been wrapped up in her own issues and worries with Nanoha to not notice something so obvious now? It didn't surprise her that Hayate had already anticipated Fate's actions though, even before she knew what she was going to do herself. The commander didn't get where she was in her career by putting all her eggs in one basket, that was for sure.

Signum picked up the bag from between them and turned towards the locker room exit. When she reached the door, she stopped and spoke over her shoulder in Fate's direction. "You may think you know what you want to do, but you should listen to what Hayate has to say at the meeting first. You might find yourself reconsidering your position."

Fate stood to oblige Signum's request, although she was shaking her head at the same time. "I doubt I will. I've already made up my mind on what I need to do."

"We'll see about that," was all the knight said as she held the door open for Fate. The two walked in silence towards the other end of headquarters, the knight forever stoic while Fate was continued to be burden with her own thoughts.

When Signum and Fate approached the open door to the conference room, they found a few of the meeting's attendees already inside. Teana and Subaru were seated across from each other at the circular table in the middle of the room. Teana had her eyes fixed to the tabletop in front of her. Subaru had her crossed arms and resting on the tabletop, her chin perched on top of them and her eyes downcast as well.

Hayate sat between the two at the head of the table near the front of the room. She gestured to the three chairs directly across from her. "Please have a seat," she requested. Fate nodded and silently sat in the chair to Teana's immediate left. Signum placed her duffel bag against the back wall and took the seat next to her, directly across from Hayate.

The commander slowly rocked back and forth in her chair in silence. Fate saw her absently tap her index finger against her arm rest while they all waited. A neat pile of paperwork and unmarked manila folders sat directly in front of her on the table. One chair at the round table remained, and Fate could easily guess who the final participate in the meeting was going to be.

When Ginga crossed through the doorway and entered the conference room, her eyes shifted nervously at the sight of her former teammates in such close proximity. She closed the door behind her and took the remaining seat, between her sister and Signum. Fate fixed her eyes on the wall behind Hayate and acknowledged no one, too preoccupied with her own thoughts to pay much mind to the tense atmosphere she was currently sitting in.

Hayate took a deep, controlled breath before speaking. "Alright, thank you all for coming here on such short notice," she announced. "This has officially been designated a 'come-to-Jesus' meeting for everyone on this team. I've noticed you all are having some issues working together as a unit. Well, we aren't leaving this room until you have some perspective on what is going on with the mission exactly."

A measurable silence followed Hayate's declaration. Everyone in that room knew their supervisor was in no mood for any jokes or backtalk that morning. They all stayed motionless and quiet while they waited for her to present whatever information she needed to them.

"We will start with this." Hayate opened the manila folder on top on the pile in front of her and passed several sheets of paper in Teana's direction. "Please take one of these and pass the rest down."

When Fate received her copy, she noticed the typeset looked unusual. It didn't take her long to recognize that the original document must have been generated with a typewriter. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen an actual typewriter in her life, let alone a document created from one.

"What the hell is this?" Ginga asked as she scanned the paper in her hands. "It's just a list of names and some addresses."

"Hey, wait..." Subaru said next. "Why is our dad's name on here?"

Fate glanced beside her and noticed Signum was not studying the list as the rest of them were. She must have seen the contents on the page already and knew the meaning behind them, she figured. She appeared tense though, which put Fate a little bit on edge herself.

Hayate pointed down at the paper in front of her. "This is a copy of the names and addresses of potential 'targets' that was sent to the Bureau earlier this week, courtesy of our favorite new terrorist group," she informed them. She then looked directly in Fate's direction. "I think you'll see some pretty meaningful names here on the list."

The statement immediately caught Fate's attention and her heart began to beat faster in her chest. The look in Hayate's eyes was stern yet sympathetic towards her. She scanned the list furiously, although she prayed she wouldn't find what she was searching for. Her eyes ceased moving when she found their names halfway down the page.

_#22 – Nanoha Takamachi. #23 – Vivio Takamachi._

"As you can see, my name is on here as well," Hayate said, her voice now quieter and deflected downward as she read the paper in front of her. "Most of the names on the list are the family members of Enforcers or those associated with them."

Fate watched her longtime friend bite the inside of her cheek from across the table. She knew there had to be more to the story that she hadn't disclosed yet. She wouldn't be affected like she had been that morning if there wasn't something worse going on. Fate turned her eyes upward to scan the paper again.

'_#1 – Hayate Yagami. #2 – Shamal Wolkenritter. #3 – Vita Wolkenritter...' _she silently read_. _Fifty names total. She recognized almost all of the names on the list.

Ginga tossed the paper in her hand back onto the table top. "Who cares? They probably hacked our system and typed out some names on a typewriter. I don't see how this is anything to worry about."

"Neither did the Council until they received these this morning," Hayate replied. She opened up the next folder in the pile and took the stack of pictures from within into her hand. She tossed them across the table, the high-definition photos fanning out in all directions on its surface.

Carnage, pure and simple. Dead bodies were now dispersed across the table. Seven people, each with their own individual pictures, lay deceased on top with various wounds inflicted across their faces and bodies. Beneath them, groups of victims were scattered across the ground together in what appeared to be a remote forest. There were too many bodies to fit in any single frame.

Fate's throat constricted tightly, making it difficult for her to swallow. Small bodies. Adult bodies. There didn't seem to be any part of her vision now that wasn't touched by violence. Her eyes focused the photo directly in front of her and she felt like her world was falling out from beneath her.

_'#3- Vita Wolkenwritter_' - - The words were inscribed in childish handwriting in the upper portion of the photo. A tiny, fiery-haired girl lay centered in her vision. Her eyes were open, the familiar empty look of death well set in. The wound across her neck was jagged and deep, a horrific cause of her death. The Enforcer's hand came to grip the armrest, her muscles so clenched there was no blood flow.

"W-What...?" Fate gasped. It was too surreal. She couldn't process just what she was seeing exactly.

Signum tapped her on the arm to get her attention. "It's not Vita, Fate. But still... It's a little girl who looks a hell of a lot like her."

Ginga closed her eyes and pushed the photo in front of her away. The dead woman that had been staring back at her could have been Hayate's twin sister, although her hair was slightly longer than the brunette's seated across the room. The wound to her head obscured half of her face with a thick red layer of blood. Fate knew it must have a blunt blade to cause a blow like that. Most likely a machete, the terrorists' weapon of choice.

Next to Ginga, Subaru clenched her fist as she held the picture of the fifth victim in her other hand. From her angle, Fate could tell she was holding the image of another slain child. Fate found she couldn't bring herself to see another victim who looked like the people she cared for so dearly. She instead looked away and attempted to control her breathing. So many innocent people were dead now, and her own family was supposed next on their list. And for what reason exactly? What point was this savage group trying to prove? The insanity of their tactics was maddening.

Teana seemed to be keeping it together better than the rest of them, although she was avoiding looking directly at the second victim in front of her. "Does the Bureau think they can carry out these attacks on the people on this list?" she asked Hayate. "I mean, I highly doubt they would get far if they went after Nanoha. Or you, for that matter."

Hayate shook her head. "No. As far as the intelligence suggests, none of their operatives are here on Mid-Childa. And even if they were, they don't appear to have the magical skills to battle many of the people on this list. But the Bureau is monitoring every flight on and off the planet to make sure it stays that way. They've also increased the security at the school since there are so many children from there on this list."

"That's not why they're doing this," Signum injected into the conversation. All eyes turned towards her. "They've made this personal to see how we will react. They want the Enforcers to imagine their own family members' deaths like this, and to make them relate to these victims more at the same time."

"Yes, that is the researchers' opinion regarding their reasoning," Hayate confirmed. "Our own operatives confirmed this morning that the remaining forty-three look a-likes are still being held hostage. The mass killings happened as they searched for people who looked like the people on this list. And we know it's just a matter of time before those hostages are killed too and their pictures sent to us. Unless we stop them before that happens, of course."

And suddenly, their tactics became a lot clearer to Fate. They had personified the victims by using their own families against them. Fate found herself mentally picturing #22 and #23, perhaps a woman and her daughter who looked very similar Nanoha and Vivio, being held hostage and savagely mistreated in the middle of god-knows-where. She imagined the two huddled in the corner together with no magic to protect them like her own family, waiting for someone to save them from their inevitable fate. They had to know that a horrible death was in their near future, whenever their number just happened to be up.

"The most important factors," Hayate continued, "are one – we are faced with a group that is hellbent on making this personal against our Enforcers by threatening their families. And two – they have shown a willingness to brutally murder innocent people to prove their point. Even women and c-chi..."

A pause came after the unsteady break in her voice, and everyone cautiously turned to look in Hayate's direction. It was rare for her to allow herself to get worked up like she just had. The commander took a deep breath through her nose and looked down at the table towards the pictures in front of her. They all waited patiently for her to regain her composure so she could continue.

"Even children are not immune from their tactics," she then said, her voice steady again.

Teana sat up straighter in her chair. "Is there any reason why they have decided to target the Enforcers like this?"

Hayate shook her head. "Their motives aren't clear yet. And the Bureau doesn't really care, quite honestly. They just want the threat neutralized as soon as possible."

"So what will our assignment be?"

"Team A will be attempting to rescue the hostages as quickly and as safely as possible. The other teams will be taking out the different factions of the terrorist group that have confirmed locations." Hayate suddenly locked eyes with Fate's across the table again. "The Council is not going to send anyone they feel is not fully dedicated in fulfilling their mission. I take it you understand what that means?"

Fate kept her eyes steady on the light blue ones in front of her. "Yes, I do."

"And you two," Hayate then said, turning her attention to the younger women at the table. "If Subaru _was_ picked for this team, I can assume you will have your issues resolved before you leave tomorrow morning, correct?"

Teana and Subaru both nodded, dumbfounded by the unexpectedly straight-forward approach to their situation. "We won't let you down, Hayate," Subaru added for good measure.

Hayate stood from the table. "Alright then. We'll meet up after lunch to run through the candidate selection process once more. The Council wants all team positions decided by the end of the day today. I suggest you take this time to talk to your family about what you learned here. It's better they hear it from you personally before we release the official report at noon today."

The group remained motionless as the commander walked past them and exited the conference room. Subaru was the first to stand from the table after she had left. She rubbed the back of her head and gave a sheepish, nervous grin to Teana across the table. "I guess she told us, huh?"

Teana stood next. "Yeah, she did," she replied quietly. "But she's right. We were acting ridiculous."

"Hey, Ginga, we'd better tell Dad what's going on," Subaru mentioned to her sister. "Wanna go to the house to talk to him?"

"I'll take you guys if you want," Teana offered to them both. "We can stop and get lunch together too."

Ginga shook her head and started collecting the pictures sitting in the middle of the table, the ones Hayate had left behind. "I'm sorry, I still have a lot of work to do in the office. Could you talk to him for us both, please? Send him my apologies if you would."

"Sure," Subaru replied, slightly crestfallen. "No problem."

Teana turned her attention to Fate. "Are you going to talk to Nanoha, Fate?"

"Yes, of course," she replied quietly.

Ginga finished collecting the pictures and exited the conference room before anything else could be said to her. Signum stood to retrieve her duffel bag from the back wall and wordlessly headed towards the exit next. As she crossed through the doorway, she briefly glanced over her shoulder and gave Fate a single nod before heading out on her way.

Teana and Subaru both headed towards the exit ahead of Fate. "Good luck with Nanoha," Teana said to her.

"Thank you," she replied distantly. The blond waited in silence until she was the last remaining person in the room. Once she was alone, she stood and closed the front door to the conference room and leaned her back up against the wall. She then waved her hand to bring up her transmitter and selected Nanoha's name from her favorites list. It only took a few seconds before her face filled the screen.

"Fate-chan!" she said easily, her smile bright and her eyes dazzling as usual. She was standing outside on the training grounds, with the sky in the background bringing out the blue in her eyes that much more. Fate couldn't help noticing that her happiness was infectious. She felt herself smiling back at her, a first for that morning.

"Hey, Nanoha. I just finished a meeting here and we're off duty until after lunch. Do you have a chance to break away from training early today?"

"Um..." Nanoha tentatively replied. She turned to look over her shoulder, and Fate could see Vita standing directly behind her. The short woman had her arms crossed and her eyes closed as if she weren't interested, even though it was obvious she had been eavesdropping on their conversation. "Vita-chan, could I –?"

"Just go," she huffed her response before Nanoha could even ask. "Maybe I'll let these guys have an early lunch too, in that case."

A chorus of cheers erupted off screen from all the recruits who had overheard their strict instructor's suggestion. Vita stomped her foot on the podium and balled her fists at her sides.

"Hey! I said I might!" she yelled at them. "Don't push your luck!"

Nanoha laughed and turned back to the screen. "I think that's a yes," she said. "Want to meet me at my office in a few minutes? I just need to get my purse."

Fate nodded. "Sure thing. But hey, before we go to lunch... We should probably talk first. There are some things we need to discuss."

**oOOOo**

Ginga hurried around the corner and entered the hallway that led towards the office, her heels clicking loudly against the white tile beneath her. The folder full of horrific images was still tucked under her arm, and she was doing her best not to break down as the images crept into the corners of her mind. As she progressed down the corridor, she slowed her pace significantly as she neared the doorway. The entrance to Hayate's office was usually propped wide open or fully shut for privacy. To find it partially open as it stood now was unusual.

When she reached the threshold, she paused and looked inside through the crack in the door. From her vantage point, she could see Hayate standing in front of her desk with her back to her, looking down towards her desk. Ginga could make out copies of the same photos she was holding in her arm on the desktop. The pictures of the dead children, along with the woman who looked very much like her, were currently holding Hayate's attention.

She watched her supervisor, who was often so carefree and mischievous, flex her jaw and turn to look out the window. In the beams of sunlight, she could see her eyes begin to water and narrow in grief. Ginga closed her own eyes and bowed her head. The pictures would haunt anyone, and if she knew an innocent person had been murdered simply because they _looked_ like her, she wouldn't know how strong she would be in that situation either.

Ginga pushed the office door open slowly to let herself in. Hayate caught sight of her entrance over her shoulder and calmly put the pictures underneath other paperwork on her desk. "Good, you're back," she mentioned casually, not turning around. "We need to make sure your sister gets a physical done as soon as possible, in case she's the one picked after all."

"Yes, of course," Ginga hummed at first. She took a few steps across the office to stand next to her boss in front of her desk. Hayate took notice of her unusually close presence and looked in her direction with confusion.

"Yes, Ginga?"

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Ginga asked, all while placing one hand on top of the photos under the stray papers.

Hayate paused before responded, her eyes fixed steady on Ginga's. "Hmmm... Yes, there is actually," she finally replied.

"What is it?"

"From here on out, I need you have an open line of communication with Fate. Make sure you work it out between you two as soon as possible."

The request felt like a slap in the face. Ginga hardened her eyes in response to the mention of her ex-partner. "Alright, Commander," she replied coldly. "I'll figure something out with her."

Ginga turned away to take her seat at her own desk and did her best to let Hayate's redirection go for now. As she sat down, she silently wondered just how many different walls Hayate used in attempt to appear strong during times like these. She kept her boss in her peripheral while she logged into her terminal and silently checked her missed messages.

In less than a minute, Hayate was leaning back against her desk with her arms crossed, looking in Ginga's direction. "By the way, the technician sent me a message about the simulator and why it crashed."

"He did?" she replied nonchalantly, her hazel eyes not looking away from the screen.

"Um-hmm." Hayate raised her eyebrows. "Apparently there was a connection error. The main cable linking the system with the mainframe had been severed. Completely ripped out of its port, in fact."

"You don't say?"

Hayate pursued her lips, trying to suppress a smile. "I do say. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Ginga shook her head. "Negative. But I was under a lot of stress from my supervisor to perform tasks beyond my paygrade at the time. Anything could have happened and I wouldn't have realized it."

"I see..." the brunette replied with a knowing nod. "Well then, I'm going to have to see about raising your pay so we can get some damn work done around here."

Ginga shrugged. "That's fine. Do whatever you need to do," she replied and continued to stare at her screen. She attempted to hide her own smile from Hayate by biting her bottom lip, all while scheduling Subaru's physical with Shamal for that afternoon.

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you again to everyone for following and reviewing this story! There was a bit of a discussion in the reviews of Nanoha remaining faithful to Fate if she did go on the mission, or if that demeaning to her character to even suggest she would cheat on her. There was also the suggestion that they may break up at some point to create angst. I figured I would weigh in on those issues a little.

For me, this story isn't about whether or not they will end their relationship. It's about the struggle to figure out how to make the relationship actually work through all of this. There are certain tendencies that all people in any relationship must face: temptation, loneliness, distrust, insecurity, etc... So any of those issues that has been/will be touched on in the story is about exploring the human condition in a stressful situation, and any faults that may surface in the characters will not be done to demean them in any way. Making mistakes is what makes us human, and in making them it provides us with opportunities to grow stronger and closer together.

That's it for now. I hope to see you all next time! ~Nissanity~


	6. Chapter 6 - Fallen Force Part 2

**A/N: **Hello again to everyone. I received some pretty mixed reviews after the last chapter. I already responded in the review section to the readers' concerns that there would be infidelity in future chapters. I'm reassuring everyone here in this note that there will not be _any_ cheating in this story between Fate and Nanoha. There are plenty of those types of stories in this fandom already. There's no need to add another one to it. And to those who said the story was now boring and/or fulling of rambling - I've done my best to improve on that (although those were some pretty broad criticisms to try to address.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

****UNBREAKABLE****

by : ~Nissanity~

****Chapter 6 – ******_**Fallen Force (Part 2)**_**

* * *

_Day 4 (continued)_

The instructor forced herself to slow down as she made her way through the maze of corridors at headquarters. Before abandoning Vita with the recruits for an early lunch date with Fate, she had rushed to post their weekly statistics to the large screen above the field. Looking back now, she wasn't sure if she had even bothered to alphabetize their names. Not that she cared all that much about it right then anyway. It was an error that could easily be fixed when she got back from lunch. The only thing on her mind now was the opportunity to spend a little extra time with Fate before she left tomorrow. It was a chance that she wasn't about to pass up for any reason.

When she turned into the last hallway leading to her office, she discovered Fate already standing outside the door with her back leaned against the wall. Her eyes were staring blankly at the floor in front of her, and her jaw seemed clenched tightly. Nanoha was all too familiar with that expression on her face. Something terrible had happened, and the Enforcer was still trying to fully process whatever it was she had learned.

"Fate-chan...?"

Nanoha's voice seemed to bring Fate out of her daze. She gave a little start and pulled away from the wall. "Hey, Nanoha..." she smiled. The gesture seemed forced and didn't quite reach her eyes. Nanoha grew even more concerned.

"I'm glad you got some extra time for lunch today," she mentioned to her.

"Me, too," Fate replied with a nod.

She led Fate into her office and shut the door behind them for privacy. Fate kept to the middle of the office between the couches. Nanoha noticed that she seemed to be growing distant once again. She leaned against her desk several feet away and let her have space.

"So, what's going on?" she eventually asked. "Did something else happen last night?"

Fate's eyes grew a little wider. "It did," she replied quietly.

"And?"

"And... I-I'm not even sure where to start, honestly."

Nanoha cocked her head to the side a little. "Well, that's never good. Have more people been killed?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Were there more children?"

She paused and closed her eyes. "Yes."

Fate's voice was becoming lower as she responded to the questions. Nanoha waited patiently for her to continue on her own accord. It wasn't too long before Fate seemed to pull herself back together. She finally took a deep breath and looked up to Nanoha again.

"They sent a list to the Council early this morning," she then said. "They say they plan to kill the people on that list next."

Nanoha crossed her arms against her chest. A heavy knot was now forming in the pit of her stomach. "Okay. Who are the people on this list?"

"Most of them are family members of Enforcers."

"I see..." she responded slowly. "So, am I on it?"

"Yes."

Another pause while she digested the news. "Alright... And what about Vivio?"

Fate's expression turned darker and she looked away to the floor. That was all the confirmation the instructor needed. She took a few seconds to process the idea that she and her daughter had been placed on a terrorist hit-list. They were now targets of a group of savages who killed people without batting an eye. She eventually just shook her head and forced a bitter laugh. Fate looked up at her with surprise at her reaction.

"At least they gave us some warning that they want to kill us," Nanoha tried to joke. "That's more considerate than most."

The Enforcer remained silent after the comment, and Nanoha soon realized that she was still hesitating in the conversation. She knew Fate likely had even more information to disclose. Nanoha groaned, wondered what else there could possibly be.

"So what else happened?" she finally asked.

"They've also been killing people who look like the ones on the list. They took pictures and sent them to the Council this morning. Seven people so far."

Nanoha's eyes grew wide as she tried to process the horrific concept. "Jesus! What the hell is that about? That's just insane!" she exclaimed.

"It is."

"Wait..." she then said. She stood up from the desk and began to pace a little. Her heart felt like it could beat out of her chest with this information. "What about the woman and girl who look like me and Vivio? Have they been killed yet?"

"No, I don't think so. You and Vivio are number twenty-two and twenty-three on the list."

Nanoha nodded quickly. "That's good... That's great, actually. You guys still have a chance to save them and the others."

Fate's eyes hardened significantly. "I'm not going on the mission, Nanoha," she said.

The declaration caught Nanoha by complete surprise. "Huh? What are you talking about?" she asked in confusion. "What do you mean that you're not going?"

"I'm not going," Fate repeated, her tone defiant. "I'm staying here with you and Vivio."

Nanoha was dumbfounded at first. She struggled to find a reason why Fate would suddenly not be going on the mission the following day. She was one of the top Enforcers in the Bureau and this had become a dire situation. Her experience and skill were needed now more than ever. Unless...

It soon became perfectly clear to Nanoha what was really going on. Fate was once again trying to sabotage everything she had worked so hard for and the reason probably had something to do with her. She had predicted that this could be a problem earlier that week, but unfortunately she didn't stop it in time. It was old habit that Fate seemed destined to repeat again and again. But Nanoha would be damned if she would let her follow through with a plan that could potential destroy her career.

"I'm pretty sure you signed a contract that says you have to go when they tell you to," she reminded her.

"Not this time," Fate replied, shaking her head. "I can't explain how it would happen. But I can stay here, if I go about it the right way."

"And then what? You're just going to let all those people die?" Nanoha asked. She balled her fists at her sides. "How can you possibly be okay with that, Fate-chan?"

Fate took a step forward. "Don't make me out to be some bad guy, Nanoha," she said while pointing at her own chest. "That's not fair."

"Then you're going to have to give me something here, so I can understand why you aren't going. Because right now, the only people this isn't fair for are the ones out there who are dying!"

"There's no way I'm leaving you and Vivio alone here!" Fate yelled back. "Not when your names are on some list like that!"

Nanoha took a deep breath to quell some of the frustration that was growing inside. "Are any of these guys even on this planet right now?" she asked, her teeth clenched.

"It doesn't matter if they are or not. I'm not taking any chances with my family. If anything happened -"

"Nothing is going to happen!" she interrupted with anger. "Do you really think I can't protect myself and Vivio without you? I do it all the time when you're gone, you know!"

The comment seemed to strike a chord with Fate and she became silent once again. Nanoha instantly regretted the implications that Fate could easily read into with the misstatement. The conversation was unraveling quickly between them, just as it had the day before. And it had the potential to get much worse if they let it.

She decided to approach the situation with a new tactic. "Okay, Fate-chan. Let's say you don't go. Is your team supposed to go fight these people without you? Doesn't that put them in more danger?"

Fate shook her head again. "Signum will be taking my place as team leader. She's ready to go if I don't."

"And you're okay with that? You'll let someone else fight your battles for you?"

"If I have to, yes," Fate replied firmly. "I'm not going to risk you and Vivio getting hurt for any reason."

Nanoha shook her head in exasperation. No matter what angle she attempted to convince her, Fate seemed to have a way to counter it. She knew there had to more to the story than just Fate wanting to protect her and Vivio. She took slow steps across the room and stood directly in front of her.

"If they have scared you into staying here, then that means they win. Right?" she asked. "They can do whatever they want and there's no justice for the people they've killed."

"I'm not scared of them, Nanoha. I've already told you - - my family comes first. And there's nothing that's going to change that."

Nanoha was determined to get Fate to come to her senses. She reached for her hand and gently entwined their fingers. Fate tensed at first and did not respond to the gesture. She instead narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw again. Nanoha knew she was trying her hardest not to give an inch in her resolve with her decision.

"Thank you for feeling that we should come first no matter what, Fate-chan," Nanoha said in sincerity. "I know how much you care for me and Vivio. But we both know that there will always be someone out there who wants to hurt us. They hate us because of what we do here. That's why we have to keep fighting them. You know this better than I do."

Perhaps it was the physical contact, or it was Nanoha's genuine words that finally reached Fate. The strong image she had been trying so hard to convey began to crack. "I...I don't want to leave you, Nanoha," she admitted quietly. "It doesn't feel right."

Nanoha nodded and fixed her gaze on the saddened eyes in front of her. It was a feeling that she understood herself all too well now. She moved her hands up to Fate's chest, just below her shoulders. Fate hesitated for a moment longer before relenting to her persistence. She placed her hands at the small of Nanoha's back and brought her in closer.

"It's okay if you don't want to go," Nanoha said to her. "I don't want you to leave, either. I miss you so much already, and you're still standing right in front of me. "

Fate's raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't been expecting any sort of agreement to come from the stubborn woman in her arms. But she also knew that Nanoha wasn't about to leave it at just that.

"But...?" she said hesitantly.

Nanoha smiled. "But... I don't get to be selfish like that. I have to share you with all these people that depend on you. That's because you are so _good _at what you do. Too good for just one person to keep to themselves."

Fate shook her head and lowered her eyes. "I'm not as strong as you're making me out to be," she replied.

Nanoha moved in and embraced her fully. "Yes, you are. And that's why I'm here, to remind you of that when you forget. Just like when you were there for me when I was in the hospital years ago. I had some dark moments then, but you were always there to help me get through it."

"I guess so. I'll always be there for you too. I swear it," Fate assured her. Nanoha could feel Fate's body, which had been so tense throughout conversation, now begin to relax significantly against her.

Nanoha couldn't help but chuckle a little at this conversation. "Nyahaha..." she laughed quietly. "Damnit. We almost made it to lunch without being all sappy and emotional with each other."

"Hey, what can I say?" Fate replied casually. "It's what we do best."

"Um-hmm," Nanoha agreed. "It really is."

The two briefly lost track of time while they continued to hold each other in the middle of the office. Nanoha couldn't care less that their affection was not workplace appropriate behavior. They both needed what was happening in that moment. It was only Fate's voice that forced her back into reality a few moments later.

"We should probably get going if we want to have time to eat lunch," she mentioned.

"Yes, we should," Nanoha replied and pulled her head back to meet Fate's eyes one last time. "But first - what are you going to do, Fate-chan?"

"Well, I still don't want to leave tomorrow..." Fate began. She then forced a sad smile. "But you're right, Nanoha. I know I need to go on this mission."

"You do. And I'll be here, fighting as hard as I can too," Nanoha said. "I want us to be together again as soon as possible. I don't want my girlfriend to be gone any longer than she has to be."

Fate immediately grinned at the new term that Nanoha had just injected into the conversation. "Your _girlfriend_, huh?" she repeated.

Nanoha moved away from Fate to get her purse so that they could leave for lunch. "That's right. My girlfriend. That's what you are now, after all."

"Girlfriend..." Fate said under her breath one more time. A smile continued to tug at the corners of her mouth, and she shook her head in disbelief. Nanoha giggled at the sight of Fate trying to hide her elation at her new title.

"Be careful with that, Fate-chan," she warned. "You don't want to use the word too much and end up getting tired of it."

The Enforcer opened the office door and allowed Nanoha to exit ahead of her. "No way," Fate said as she passed by. "I don't think that would ever be possible."

****oOOOo****

"What time is Lindy and Arf coming by tonight?"

Fate looked up to the cafeteria ceiling and tried to remember the message she had received from her mother earlier. "Um... Around seven, I think."

Nanoha nodded and took a bite of her of salad. "Okay," she mumbled, her hand now covering her mouth.

"It's good that Vivio will be able to see them again before they leave tomorrow," Fate added.

"Um-hmm," Nanoha merely replied and then waited until she finished chewing before speaking again. "She would be heartbroken if she couldn't say goodbye to them."

Fate nodded in return and continued eating her sandwich. So far, lunch between the two had been relatively pleasant and stress-free. Neither had dared approach the subject of the upcoming mission again. They avoided the touchy issue by instead sharing in their usual lighthearted banter. Even though the two had talked through and come to an agreement about Fate leaving, there was still a nagging feeling that Nanoha couldn't shake. It felt like they somehow hadn't fully resolved the issue.

Perhaps it was Fate's lingering hesitation to leave that was bothering her. She knew her heart wasn't nearly as invested in this mission as it normally was. But it could have been her own conflicting emotions plaguing her as well. She felt as if she was forcing Fate to leave when she see herself didn't want to see her go. No matter what the underlying cause of her anxiety was though, she doubted the two talking about the subject any further would change the way either felt about the situation.

Fate's eyes suddenly fixed on something over Nanoha's left shoulder. A raven-haired woman who she had never seen at headquarters before was standing near the entrance of the cafeteria. She was looking downward and appeared to be struggling with something around her collar. The instructor uniform she wore looked bulky and ill-fitted, and her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in a very long time. The hair on the back of Fate's neck suddenly stood up on end.

"Nanoha, who's that?" she asked quickly. She began to rise from her seat on instinct, ready to act on a moment's notice.

"Hmmm?" Nanoha replied in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Nanoha set her fork down on her plate when she realized that Fate was focused intently on something behind her. She had turned nearly halfway in her seat when an thunderous explosion hit the cafeteria. The windows around the galley instantly shattered and propelled fragments of glass in all directions. The ground shook violently, knocking Nanoha out of her seat and onto the floor.

A powerful gust of wind and unbelievable heat struck her next before she could get her shield up to protect herself. The deafening roar from the blast lasted for less than half a second. It was then replaced by a high-pitched ringing in her ears. She saw a burst of flames coming for her next before she was surrounded by darkness. It felt as if she were falling into an endless abyss, being consumed by some all-powerful force.

She remained motionless until the aftershocks of the explosion had passed. The light was beginning to return to her world once again. She blinked several times and tried to focus her eyes. Fate was laying on the floor beside her in her Impulse Form, cradling her in her arms. Nanoha realized she must have transformed right as the blast occurred and had used her cloak to protect them both.

Her vision was still slightly blurry, but she could make out Fate's lips moving above her. It took a few more seconds before her hearing was restored.

"...you okay, Nanoha?" she was finally able to hear Fate say.

She sat up with Fate's assistance and tried to gather her bearings. A thick cloud of dust and smoke was all around them and made it a little difficult to breath. She could hear people yelling throughout the destroyed cafeteria, asking each other if they were okay. The emergency lights then turned on all along the ceiling. The dust clouds surrounding them became tinted a soft red.

"_Emergency... Emergency..._" the mechanical voice repeated loudly.

"No kidding," Nanoha groaned as she was pulled up to her feet. Raising Heart suddenly registered a 'ping' against her chest to verify her location. Bardiche did the same seconds later.

"Fate! Nanoha!" came a familiar voice from several yards away. "You guys there?!"

"Yes, we're here!" Nanoha yelled back.

Fate found Nanoha's hand and grasped it tightly. She led the two of them towards the direction of Teana's voice near one of the exits opposite of the blast zone. They were careful where they stepped and avoided the chunks of debris in their path. The dust was already beginning to settle significantly when they found Teana. Subaru was standing close beside her, her distressed eyes darting all around the scene.

"Are you guys alright?" Teana asked. "Subaru and I were just about to go into the cafeteria when it happened."

Nanoha felt Fate's hand flex around hers even tighter. "Yes, we were lucky. Neither of us are hurt."

The transmitter screens of all the Enforcers at the scene suddenly appeared beside them, including Subaru's. Hayate's face filled their screens. Her expression was grave. "All available Enforcers, report to the upper level immediately," she commanded. "I say again – All available Enforcers, report to the upper level at once."

Teana let a hiss out through her teeth. "That is _not_ good," she moaned.

"It's not, Tea?" Subaru asked her. She looked to the ceiling above them, growing even more concerned with everything that was happening so quickly.

Fate closed her eyes at first and didn't move. She knew exactly what Hayate's directive meant for her immediate future. Nanoha noticed her hesitation and decided to act for her instead.

"Let's go," she said decisively. Fate soon found herself trailing Nanoha by the hand towards the nearest emergency stairwell entrance. Teana and Subaru took her cue and ran ahead of them to open the door. The instructor marched them through it and proceeded up each flight of stairs without pausing once.

She didn't release Fate's hand until they had reached the upper level of headquarters. They all walked onto the mezzanine from the stairwell exit as a group. _Orion_, the ship the Enforcers were slated to travel on for the mission tomorrow, was in the process of energizing its engines for departure. Ground crews were working furiously to load the cargo area with supplies.

Hayate spotted Fate's arrival through the growing crowd of Enforcers now gathering around. She rushed over to speak to her. "Team A leaves as soon as they finish loading the supplies," she said to her directly. "I hope you've come to some sort of decision, because you're out of time."

Fate said nothing in response at first. Nanoha took a step forward while she hesitated. "Do they know what happened exactly?" she asked Hayate.

"There were simultaneous explosions all around the city. We have a trace on the group's ship heading back to their planet. We are going to try to cut them off before they can disappear."

"Wait, there were other explosions?!" she asked, a panicked feeling beginning to overtake her. "What about the school?"

"They tried there too but couldn't get through the barrier," Hayate assured her. "The children are fine."

Nanoha sighed loudly in relief. Teana took that moment to point to Subaru beside her. "By the way, Hayate. Does this mean –?"

Hayate nodded. "Yes, Subaru is a member of this team now," she confirmed.

"Good. Come on, Subaru!" Teana said to her. "Let's go see if we can help."

"O-Okay, Tea," was her dumbfounded but obedient reply. Teana grabbed Subaru by the arm and drug her away towards the ramp leading to the ship.

Across the large mezzanine, Nanoha caught sight of Signum in deep discussion with Ginga. The two were huddled over her transmitter screen and reviewing mission details together. She knew Fate was looking in their direction as well. Hayate exchanged a knowing look with Nanoha and turned to exit the conversation.

"I'll give you two a minute," she said to them over her shoulder.

Nanoha squeezed Fate's hand to get her attention. "Fate-chan?"

When Fate turned to Nanoha, the sadness that filled her eyes was heartbreaking. Nanoha had to wonder how much her own eyes mirrored what she was seeing in front of her. The grief of the unfolding situation was causing her own stomach to clench and her chest to burn fiercely.

Fate shook her head slow and deliberate. "I can't..." she said, her teeth clenched.

"Yes, you can. We're going to be just fine here. You need to go. They're just going to keep attacking like this if you don't stop them now."

Fate appeared to be on the verge of breaking down completely. She was glancing all around the room - First to the ship, then to Signum and Ginga, and finally back to Nanoha. "But they're _here_ now, Nanoha," she finally said. "How am I supposed to leave you and Vivio after this?"

Nanoha took a deep breath to gather her courage. She knew every second that she let Fate second-guess leaving would make it that much harder on both of them. She needed to finish this right away. Pushing up on her toes, she lightly brushed her lips against Fate's one last time. She only pulled away when she felt the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes.

"I have to go now too," she said quietly. "I need to help them downstairs. I love you, Fate-chan."

"No, wait..." Fate tried, but Nanoha had already turned away from her. The Enforcer remained frozen in place while she watched Nanoha promptly walk away from her. She burst through the stairwell door with a bang and disappeared from Fate's sight. The door gave an audible click as it closed, a sound that echoed loudly in Fate's ears.

She didn't know how long she stood there afterwards, staring blankly at the now closed door in front of her. Her emotions began to filter and change in those moments. Sadness turned to grief, which soon morphed into hostility and rage to those who had caused all of this. She flinched in reflex when a firm hand came to grip her shoulder.

"It's time for us to go, Testarossa, " the gruff voice said.

She acknowledged the hand on her shoulder with a slight turn of her head. "I thought you weren't going if I was?" she responded coolly.

"No, I'm still going. I'm the leader of Team B," Signum told her. "Actually, I have been this entire time. We're going after the leader of the group directly and taking him out. I never was going to replace you as the leader of Team A."

"Of course you weren't..." she replied and gave a bitter laugh under her breath. Hayate's plan had come full circle – just like it always did. "But what would have happened if I had decided to stay here after all?" she had to ask.

Signum shook her head. "Hayate didn't really have any doubt that you'd be going. There's no way Nanoha was going to let you give up that easily."

Fate abruptly turned away from her mentor and headed towards the console centered on the mezzanine. Hayate was now standing beside Ginga and giving her guidance with inputting configurations. Neither noticed Fate approaching at first. Ginga was the first to catch sight of her in her peripheral when she was just a few feet away. She saw a look of fury burning in the hardened eyes that were now staring directly at her.

"What?" she asked Fate harshly. She braced herself for a fight, although she knew she was wholly unprepared to defend herself in that moment.

Fate gripped Bardiche tighter, her knuckles turning white. "Ginga... I need your help with something."

Ginga's eyes widen in surprise. She hadn't anticipated her to say anything along those lines. "O-Oh... Okay, help with what?" she replied with suspicion.

"I know that you and Nanoha don't always get along," Fate began, "but I need you to promise me that you'll protect her and Vivio while I'm gone. That no matter what happens, you'll help keep both of them safe."

The unexpected request floored Ginga, rendering her speechless. She looked over to Hayate for some sort of assistance. The commander only raised her eyebrows expectantly and awaited her answer as well. How she could honor such a request, she wondered? After all the conflict that happened between everyone the previous week...?

Fate's took another step towards her. "Please, Ginga. I can't leave without knowing an Enforcer is here watching over them. I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't trust you with their lives."

Ginga slowly exhaled the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding throughout the conversation. She had no clue how she would ever be able to follow through with a promise like that. But she also recognized that it seemed to be a crucial factor in Fate's decision to leave on this mission or not. This also might be her only chance to start making things right between them again, and she knew better than to pass it up.

"Okay, Fate. I'll do my best to protect them while you're gone," she assured her.

Fate nodded solemnly and turned away from her. Signum was now heading towards the ramp leading to the ship, and Fate walked faster to catch up to her. She checked in with the lead officer at the entrance and immediately made her way to the bridge of the shop. When she reached her designated seat beside the captain's chair, she released her barrier jacket and prepared for the journey.

War had just been declared on everything she held sacred in her life... And she was fully prepared to bring her wrath to the enemy's doorstep.

****oOOOo****

It was a little after seven when a knock came to the front door of their home. Nanoha set the hand towel down onto the kitchen counter and hurried to the entryway to welcome her visitors. Vivio rushed in from the living room at the same time to greet their guests as well. Nanoha opened the door and found Arf holding a bottle of wine in her hands. Lindy was standing beside her, waving hello to the both of them.

"Grandma!" Vivio shouted when she caught of her grandmother standing on the other side of the door.

Lindy entered through the doorway and bent down on one knee. Vivio ran straight into her arms and wrapped her arms around her grandmother's neck. Arf greeted Nanoha with a hug at the same time and passed the bottle of wine to her.

"I guess we know who Vivio's favorite is," the familiar joked.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Arf, " Nanoha replied as she scanned the label on the bottle. "You should see the fort she built in the living room. She said she couldn't wait to show it to you."

"A fort?!" Arf exclaimed loudly. Vivio pulled away from Lindy and looked up to Arf instead.

"Yep!" she replied, nodding enthusiastically. The little girl grabbed her by the hand and dragged her towards the living room. "Come see it! It's so cool!"

Nanoha shut the front door behind them. "I'm glad you guys could make it tonight," she said to Lindy. "Vivio was so upset that she didn't get to say goodbye to Fate-chan today. But I think this visit will help take her mind off of that before you go."

"I hope it does help," Lindy replied. "We actually had an opportunity to stay here longer. The Council offered to extended our stay here as collaborators on the mission. But Arf and I agreed that there isn't much else we can do here. It's up to the Enforcers now."

Nanoha nodded in agreement. She ensured sure Vivio was completely out of earshot before she brought up the touchy subject. "Have they heard anything from them yet?" she asked quietly.

Lindy shook her head. "No, not yet," she replied. "But they probably won't be transmitting anything from the ship for a while. They don't want to end up giving away their own location to the enemy."

The timer above the oven began to beep loudly from the next room. Nanoha led Lindy into the kitchen so that she could take the main entree out of the oven. She had found plenty of time to prepare the dish that afternoon since all non-essential personnel at TSAB were sent home early that day. It was a miracle that no one had been seriously hurt during the bombing, although Nanoha had to admit that she might not have been so lucky if Fate hadn't been there to protect her. Lindy took the liberty of opening the wine bottle and retrieved a few glasses from the cupboard while Nanoha worked on dinner.

The older woman began to sense silent turmoil brewing in Nanoha that evening. She had experienced it so many times in her own life herself. Despite the years that had passed since those days, she still vividly remembered those lonely nights without her husband. The first night was always the hardest when he left.

"You know," she began, "I was very lucky to have family and friends to turn to when my husband was away. You have a strong support network here and back on Earth as well."

"That's very true," Nanoha replied. "I've been very blessed in that regard."

"By the way, how is your mother doing? I haven't had a chance to visit with her in a while."

Nanoha chuckled a little. "Well, let's see... My sister is getting married, so she and my dad are helping with the wedding plans. She's pretty excited about that. But I don't think she was too happy with the idea of me being with Fate-chan."

"Oh, is that so?" Lindy replied, her voice raising defensively. "Does she think my daughter is not good enough for you or something?"

"No, I don't think that's it," Nanoha smiled. "I think she's just worried that the situation is going to be too hard on me. She said I should consider all my options."

Lindy eyebrows drew in slightly. "Options?" she repeated in confusion. "What options would those be exactly?"

"Um..." Nanoha responded hesitantly at first. She was finding that she wasn't sure what her mother had meant by 'options' now, since she had stopped the video before the message had finished. She pulled up Raising Heart's transmitter so that she could replay the message. "Here, I'll just play the message so you can hear what my mother said."

While Lindy began to watch her mother's last message, Nanoha began pulling dishes out of the cabinet to set the table. Lindy hummed lightly during the first part of the message as Momoko spoke of family and friends at home. Nanoha braced herself when her mother switched gears to discuss her preference for women and then her relationship with Fate.

"_...really wasn't any doubt about it after your last message though, considering that we could see Fate laying naked behind you the whole time._"

Lindy burst into laughter with her mother's last statement. A fierce blush instantly formed on Nanoha's cheeks and she sunk her head towards her chest. She would have fast forwarded through that part to save herself the embarrassment if she had remembered in time.

"That's my girl," Lindy said with a hint of pride in her voice.

"_...you've also told me that she's gone on missions more often than she's home, and how hard that is on you and Vivio already. Are you sure you want to add romance to that situation...?_"

Nanoha stopped moving altogether in anticipation of the last part of the message. She wasn't sure what to expect and her heart was beginning to beat faster in her chest. Lindy was looking at the screen with concern herself, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"_Honestly, I don't want to see you end up in an unhappy relationship when you have other options to consider,_" her mother said. "_You know, you may not understand right away when I say this - - but you may want to reconsider how important your own career is now._"

The serving ladle in Nanoha's hand dropped to the counter, making a loud clanging noise against the surface. She turned to face the screen in shock. "W-Wait, what?" she gasped. "What did she just say?"

"_I know how hard you work, Nanoha,_" Momoko continued, "a_nd all while trying to raise a young child at the same time. But there's nothing wrong with slowing down for a while. Enjoy this time with your daughter while you still can. It's something I regret not being able to do myself when you kids were growing up. And if you do that, you'll end up building a stronger home for Fate to come back to when she returns from her missions_."

Nanoha raised a shaky hand towards the screen and paused the video. She stayed silent, and even Lindy was struggling to find the appropriate words after what Momoko had just suggested. It took Nanoha a moment to recover, but when she did she managed to give a smile and shook her head.

"My mother..." she sighed lightly. "She is bound and determined to make me into some sort of housewife, no matter what it takes."

Lindy chuckled as well. "It sounds like it. Although I can't say that her words are without merit. If I were you, I would at least take her advice into consideration."

"You mean, give up everything I have worked so hard for so I can stay home and do nothing?" Nanoha replied with complete disdain at the notion. "I can't see how that's an option at all. I'm pretty sure work is what's going to keep my mind _off_ that fact that Fate-chan is gone."

"Say no more," Lindy said while raising her hands in the air in surrender. "Only you know what is best for your family in this situation. What works for some will not always work for everyone."

Nanoha nodded and returned to her previous task in silence. During the pause in the conversation, both women noticed the living room had suddenly become quiet. A little too quiet. The maternal instincts in both kicked in, although Lindy was the first to head to the doorway leading between the two rooms.

"I'll go check in on them," she assured Nanoha.

"Thank you, Lindy."

A few seconds passed and Nanoha heard a loud "_Rawwrr!_" come from both Vivio and Arf in the living room.

"We got you, Grandma!" Vivio exclaimed and giggled loudly.

"Yes, you did!" Lindy cheerful replied. "You both scared me half to death!"

"Come play in the fort with us! Plleeeaaassseeee?!" her granddaughter begged.

Nanoha let her focus drift away from their playful banter and returned to think of her mother's message. She appreciated the advice she had received from her, and was very grateful that her mother actually supported her relationship with Fate after all. But the suggestion to give up being an instructor at TSAB all together? That idea seemed ludicrous.

Despite suffering the loss of income, she had simply worked too hard and for so many years to just throw it all away now. And there was still so much more work that needed to be accomplished in the future. Quitting wasn't even in the realm of possibilities. She eventually discarded the idea outright and turned her attention to serving dinner instead.

After the last dish had been brought into the dining room, she poked her head into the living room to bring to her family in. "Hey, guys! Dinner's ready" she called to them. "Let's eat before it gets cold."

****oOOOo****

By the time Lindy and Arf had left that evening, it had been dark outside for several hours. Vivio was nearly sleepwalking as they made their way to her bedroom. She silently put on the pajamas her mother set out for her from the dresser. Nanoha tucked her in without any of her usual protests for a bedtime story and turned off the overhead light. A feeling of exhaustion was beginning to take hold of her as well as she shut the bedroom door behind her. She had finally slowed down long enough to let it.

While walking down the darkened hallway towards her bedroom, she attempted to push away the hollow sensation that was threatening to overtake her. It was always there the first few nights after Fate would leave, with the first night being the absolute worst. The feeling would lessen as time went on. It always did.

The packed suitcase was the first thing she noticed when she turned on her bedroom light. The family members had been instructed to bring their Enforcer's personal belongings to headquarters the next day. A relief ship would be transporting their things to them once they arrived at their destination.

She closed the bedroom door and leaned her back against it while glaring at the suitcase. Work and her dinner guests had been a suitable distraction from thinking about Fate's unexpected departure that day. But now, it was staring her directly in the face. She suddenly felt an urge to cry and lash out. She wanted to physically express just how unbelievably unfair it all felt. But at the same time, she knew that would solve absolutely nothing.

"God damnit..." she muttered in frustration and moved away from the door.

Her eyes traveled around the bedroom as she began to undress for bed. The emptiness that was now present in the space felt so very familiar. Her life had become predictable again. She would go to work and she would come home. She would care for Vivio, and she would pretend that Fate's missing presence from their lives didn't bother her too much. She would repeat that cycle for as long as necessary.

A quick shower was what she needed most to wash away the remnants of the day. She climbed into her side of the bed afterward and reached for her alarm clock. She reset the alarm to go off an hour earlier than when she usually woke up. The events over the past few weeks had kept her distracted from performing her job to the best of her ability.

That would all change tomorrow, though. It was time to get serious about her work again.

* * *

**A/N:** By the way, sorry for the delay with the release. I had a test every day last week and couldn't get this published by the weekend like I had wanted. I have another busy week ahead of me, but I'll do my best to get another chapter out soon. Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7 - A Day of Reckoning

**A/N: **This update turned into a pretty long chapter and took a while to complete. I'd say we are roughly at the halfway point in this story now. I hope you all enjoy this next installment!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

**UNBREAKABLE**

by : ~Nissanity~

**Chapter 7 – ****_A Day of Reckoning_**

* * *

_~Day 15~_

Teana made sure to set and charge her device as she stared at the foreboding structure in front of her. She slapped away a mosquito that stung her neck and sent her team leader an uneasy look.

"_You know, Fate... This has to be the creepiest place we've ever been to,_" she mentioned telepathically.

Fate gave a solemn nod in return. The industrial-style concrete building stuck out like a sore thumb in the otherwise undeveloped jungle they had found themselves in. Once constructed as an emergency shelter for the neighboring village, the windowless institution was now being used as a makeshift prison.

The Enforcers had spent the past ten days probing dead ends and fruitless leads in hopes of tracking down the terrorist group and their hostages. But in an unexpected twist, Signum's team received a tip that morning from a local informant of their whereabouts. Fate was quick to descend on the location with her team. After confirming the site, she requested backup from the ship to help secure the facility.

The grueling days had been some of the worst Fate had endured in her life. Not only had she been unable to contact her family back home, the terrorists always seemed one step ahead of them. They had become experts in covering their tracks, leaving no trace of their existence in their nomadic nature. There was also no further correspondence between them and TSAB. Their activities over the past ten days were shrouded in mystery. They finally had a misstep though, and the hostages now lay just a few hundred yards away from them.

Fate looked past Teana towards the newest member of her team. Subaru was currently kneeling behind a tree near Teana, her eyes steadily fixed on the building in front of her. Her own father had been #17 on hit-list sent to the Council the previous week. Subaru had vowed every day that if his look-a-like were still alive, she would be the one to save him.

The first days of the mission had been a difficult adjustment for all team members involved. The rookie's anxiety and inexperience had cost them valuable time with the training she was overloaded with. She seemed hardened to her new life as an Enforcer now, though. Fate was even beginning to see similarities in her approach when compared to her sister's.

"_You holding up okay, Subaru?_" she asked her telepathically. Subaru nodded and gave her a thumbs up in response.

The auxiliary troops soon arrived on scene and took cover as they surrounded the building. Once their leader indicated they were in position, Team A began to approach the building as silently as possible. They reached the entrance and remained still while listening for movement inside. The sounds of muffled voices could be heard through the thick concrete walls, giving them all renewed hope.

Fate opened a telepathic channel with her two teammates. "_Teana, you handle the door. I'll take the lead going inside. Subaru, stay close to Teana and cover my back._"

"_Okay!_" they both replied in unison.

Teana charged Cross Mirage and aimed her device towards the door. Fate and Subaru both held protective shields up during the initial blast. The explosion rocked the building to its foundation. Fate knew it could have been deadly for anyone standing on the other side of the door, but an unexpected entrance was necessary to catch the kidnappers off-guard.

Without hesitation, Fate stormed inside with Bardiche set to fire. Teana and Subaru were just one step behind, they too ready to attack the enemy in an instant. Once the dust had settled, they stopped dead in their tracks.

An unoccupied room was all that greeted them on the other side of the door.

"Fuck!" Teana shouted while throwing both her arms down to her sides in frustration.

Subaru interlocked her fingers behind her head and closed her eyes in an attempt to control her tears that were welling up inside. Fate only stood there motionless and stared across the empty space. She felt a numbness inside, a reaction that only sheer devastation could cause in the veteran Enforcer.

Once the initial shock of the loss had worn off, Fate used her transmitter to open a line of communication with the other leader. "The building's empty," she informed him. "Focus on securing the outside perimeter and conduct a full search."

"_Roger that,_" the lieutenant replied.

A few bare light bulbs had been strung along the middle of the roof to provide some semblance of light. Trash littered the floor all around them and the smell inside the non-ventilated space was putrid and overwhelming. Above them, through crackling speakers in each corner of the room, cries and whimpers were playing on an endless audio loop. Fate realized that those were the recorded voices of the hostages that had recently occupied that same space.

Teana tapped Fate twice on the arm and pointed to the other side of the building. "Hey, look over there," she said.

Fate squinted across the dimly lit room and saw a table hidden in the shadows against the far wall. Once her eyes had adjusted to the dark space, she could make out a small object sitting on the tabletop. As she neared it, she recognized it as a paperweight sitting atop a stack of pictures. She thumbed through them and began counting. Nine people total – all who had suffered the same horrendous deaths as the first seven victims the week prior.

They were too late after all. She felt sick to her stomach.

"What is that, Fate?" Subaru asked from a distance behind her. Teana held her arm up to stop her from walking in the leader's direction. Her instincts were telling her that this was something her new teammate wasn't ready to see yet.

"Don't go over there, Subaru," she said.

The gold paperweight was in Fate's way as tried to spread the pictures out. She moved it towards the edge of the table to make space. As she did, the motion activated something internally and she quickly pulled her hand away. A holographic screen appeared from the top of the object. The paperweight was actually an outdated transmitting device.

A crude homemade video began to broadcast against the nearby wall. Fate immediately recognized the terrain. Whatever they were now watching had been filmed outside the building they were standing in. The camera captured an older man in the background, his silver hair reflecting in the bright sunlight. He was currently sitting on his knees with both hands tied behind his back. Even from a distance, the viewer could easily see that he was in a state of panic.

"No..." Subaru said under her breath. The similarities between the man in the video and her father were unmistakable.

Fate looked over her shoulder and found Subaru trembling as she stared at the video in front of her. She sent Teana a look that spoke volumes. Her partner nodded, understanding that she was responsible for their teammate at the moment.

Bringing up Bardiche's screen, Fate used her own device to record the video. A man with unkempt raven hair and matching beard walked into the frame with a machete in his right hand. Fate's eyes widen when she realized she was getting her first clear glimpse of the leader of the group. The man who had previously been elusive was now making an unbridled appearance right in front of her. On the screen, he slowly approached the kneeling man with a menacing look in his eyes.

"No! Stop!" Subaru yelled desperately. Despite all the progress that had been made, the inexperienced Enforcer was hitting her breaking point. Teana struggled to keep her restrained by holding her close.

"Turn around if you can't handle it, Subaru," Fate said coldly, her attention remaining focused on recording the video.

Although she outwardly held a calm demeanor, even Fate had to close her eyes when the machete was first swung down onto the hostage. The screams and sounds of the man being brutally struck with the blade echoed in her ears. Halfway through, she had to hold her own arm steady to continue recording. It took well over a minute for the attacker to deliver his final blow to his victim. It felt like an eternity.

Once the savage attack was over, the man slowly approach the camera with the weapon still in his hand. Blood slid down along the blade and off the tip to the forest floor. He crouched down and looked directly into the camera lens. His eyes were crazed, and his hair and beard were both stained and dripping with blood.

"That's for you, Enforcer _Na-ka-ji-ma_..." he drawled in a maniacal voice. The video cut exactly out a second later. The recorded audio of the hostages crying and weeping played overhead once again.

Stunned, Fate stopped recording and turned to face her teammates. She was sure her horrified reaction mirrored what she was seeing on Teana's face. Subaru was violently shaking in her partner's arms, her emotions reduced to nothing but venomous rage.

Bardiche's transmitter lit up again. "I think you guys better head outside," the auxiliary leader said, his voice grave. "We have ten bodies out here. It's pretty bad."

Fate tried to pull herself out of her mental fog. "Sure... Yes, we'll be right out," she replied. She hurriedly sent the video file to Signum's device for her analysis and investigation. The most difficult aspect to accept was that this had been nothing but a trap. The tip was merely a ruse designed to lure them into this space to witness the carnage once again. Just one more step to psychologically torture them.

"We're probably being watched right now," she mentioned to her team members.

Teana looked around the room with disdain in her eyes. She eventually turned and guided Subaru away towards the front entrance. Before exiting the building, she held her middle finger high above her head, sending her own message loud and clear to the kidnappers. As Fate followed behind them, she began to counting the remaining days in her head.

Nanoha and Vivio's look-a-likes had less than a week to live at that point.

**oOOOo**

Ginga typed as quickly as she could to finalize the daily mission summary for submission. She had someplace to be in a few minutes, and she wanted to be out of the office before Hayate returned from her last meeting of the day. Unfortunately for her, compiling all the data had proven to be more challenging than usual throughout the day. After ten days of monotony, new developments were flying in and she found herself running short on time.

Hayate made it back to her office before Ginga could finish the report. As she walked inside the room, she looked surprised to find her assistant still working diligently at her desk. She glanced down at her watch twice, her curiosity growing. Ginga kept her boss in her peripheral as she walked across the office.

As Hayate neared her own desk, she spotted an unfamiliar folder resting on top of the other paperwork. The bright orange letters read "CLASSIFIED" in bold text along the edges. She casually picked it up and opened it to scan the contents.

"What's this?" she asked her assistant.

"The Council just sent it," Ginga replied. "You weren't here, so I accepted it for you."

Hayate frowned as she read the title of the report – "_Intel Suggests Mid-Childa Children on List At High Risk of Kidnapping._" She pointed down towards her assistant's signature that was on the interior of the folder. "Did you happen to read this?" she asked.

Ginga did not stop typing, nor did she look up from her computer to her supervisor. "The title was hard to miss. But no, I didn't read the actual report."

The commander set the folder back down on the table. She then leaned back against the desk and crossed her arms. It was the typical stance she took when she was addressing her assistant.

"You know, there's a reason why it's deemed classified," she said, her tone stern. "This isn't the type of information that needs to get out."

The insinuation struck a deep nerve. Ginga pressed '_send_' to finalize the report. She then slid the keyboard tray back into the desk with a loud bang. "They said I didn't have a choice but to sign it," she replied, now glaring at her supervisor. "And if you're suggesting that I'm going to spread classified information around, feel free to fire me right now. I have better things to do than being your doormat."

Hayate's eyes grew wide after the scolding. She and Ginga were certainly both stressed, and their usual banter had been absent throughout the day. But her reaction was a lot colder than Hayate had ever seen from her before. That's when the commander seemed to have a realization.

"Wait a minute..." she mumbled and pulled up her calendar on her device. She pointed at the event that she had highlighted to start in a few minutes. "Good god, it's your first anger management class tonight!"

Ginga rose from her seat and grabbed her purse. "That has nothing to do with anything," she growled as she rounded the corner of her desk and stormed out of the office.

Hayate scrambled to gather the files from her desk into her briefcase, including the new classified folder she had just received. She locked the clasps and hurried to catch up to Ginga. After turning off the office lights and shutting the door, she found she had to nearly run to catch up to her long-legged assistant.

"What do you want now?" Ginga asked when Hayate began to walk beside her.

"Nothing! What kind of supervisor would I be if I didn't support my staff through the good times _and_ the bad?"

The two approached the elevator and Ginga pushed the button to take them downstairs. The doors opened right away and they entered into the cab together. Hayate smiled in Ginga's direction as the doors closed behind them.

"Yeah, right," Ginga grumbled. "Remind me to send in your application for your sainthood."

Doing her best to ignore the other occupant in the elevator, Ginga pushed the button to take them downstairs. When the short trip was complete, Hayate allowed Ginga to exit the elevator first. She realized her error when she once again found herself nearly running to catch up with her assistant through the lobby. The two approached the conference room that was reserved for the bi-monthly anger management class.

Shamal, the group's volunteer leader, was standing outside the doorway and greeting guests as they entered. "Good to see you, Ginga," she said warmly. "Please take your assigned seat inside."

The doctor then blocked Hayate's entrance by placing her arm across the doorway. "What?" Hayate asked innocently.

Shamal shook her head. "I want them to work through their issues, not make them worse with your presence."

"Oh, come on!" she scoffed and tried to duck under her arm. "What kind of supervisor would I be -?"

"Go!" Shamal interrupted her. She grabbed her master by the shoulders and turned her around in the opposite direction. "You have plenty of things to do that are far more productive than this."

Hayate groaned dramatically and stomped off down the hall back towards the elevator. Shamal chuckled and closed the door to the meeting room behind her. She then turned to her attention to the refreshment table to ensure everything on it was in place for after the meeting.

Ginga walked cautiously inside and looked around. The plastic chairs were positioned in a half circle in the middle of the room. She spotted the last empty seat in the room with her name labeled on it. Nanoha was currently seated right beside it.

_Of course_, she thought bitterly.

"We'll get started in just a few minutes," Shamal announced from behind the refreshment table. "Everyone take your seats if you would?"

Ginga noted that Nanoha had her arms and her legs crossed tightly against her and was refusing to look in her direction. She walked with reluctance towards her own assigned seat. Although neither were outwardly acknowledging each others' existence, the tension between the two women was palpable. Ginga sat down in her chair and crossed her arms and legs as well, her frustration growing at the situation.

The promise she had made to Fate before she had left crossed her mind. There hadn't been any indication of another attack, so she hadn't acted any differently towards Nanoha before that evening. Of course, that had all changed thirty minutes ago when she learned the children on the list were now at a high risk of being kidnapped. She couldn't outright disclose the information to anyone else, especially Nanoha. That could easily get her fired, if not land her with an even more serious punishment. But then again... there was always a way around everything.

She glanced at the stubborn woman from the corner of her eye. "Where's Vivio tonight?" she asked.

Nanoha flinched at the unexpected sound of Ginga's voice. "Hmm? What did you just say?" she replied at first.

"I was asking where Vivio was tonight?" she tried again.

A pause. Nanoha narrowed her eyes at her with suspicion. "She's here, at the after-hours daycare," she answered slowly. "I picked her up after school and brought her to headquarters."

"You brought her here?!" Ginga exclaimed, her eyes growing wide. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

Nanoha physically bristled in her seat. "I'm sorry, are you suddenly an expert in how I should raise my daughter or something?"

"No! Jesus, I was just asking a question!" Ginga held her hands up in the air. "You don't have to get so defensive."

"Fine..." Nanoha huffed. To punctuate her annoyance, she wrapped her hands around the bottom of her chair and hopped a few times away. Once she had created distance, she resumed her abrasive posture with her arms and legs crossed against her. Ginga rolled her eyes and turned away from her as much as she could as well.

Even as she sat stewing in her seat, Ginga's question seemed to linger in Nanoha's mind. It was not long before she turned back in her direction once more. "Why did you ask if that was - ?" she began.

"Attention, please!" Shamal announced before Nanoha could finish. "Welcome, everybody! It's wonderful to see you all here tonight."

Everyone around the circle, minus Nanoha and Ginga, began to clap excitedly in their seats. "Hi, Shamal!" a few even called out to her.

"Good evening! Everyone, I'm pleased to announce that we have two new arrivals with us tonight. Although... it seems that they were anxious to start their own discussion without us."

All eyes in the room turned towards the new members to the group. Nanoha and Ginga both gave everyone a half-hearted smile. "Sorry, Shamal..." Ginga added quietly, although remorse was the last emotion she was feeling at the moment.

"That's quite all right," Shamal assured them. "Don't worry yourselves too much. For your first meeting, we ask the newcomers to just observe how the meetings are run. So, sit back and try to enjoy your time here. So, let's all get started, shall we?"

**oOOOo**

Throughout the meeting, Nanoha's thoughts bounced between several issues that had nothing to do with managing anger. First, there was the work she was not able to finish that evening because of this meeting. She was worried sick about Fate and how she was doing on her mission, but that was nothing new. And now, she found herself rehashing Ginga's question about Vivio. It had gotten under her skin and she had no idea why.

Although her distrust of the woman beside her ran deep, Nanoha couldn't help but notice the genuine concern expressed when Ginga found out where Vivio was that evening. She too was nervous to have her daughter in the same building that had been bombed just ten days prior. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. All of her acquaintances were busy or unable to watch Vivio while she attended the mandatory meeting that evening.

In the occasional moments when Nanoha did turn her attention back to the meeting, she found it revolved around the members sharing stories and emotions together. They also discussed the progress they felt they had made since the previous meeting, earning them resounding applause from the group. It was a lot more positive and less angry than Nanoha had imagined it would be. In fact, the only anger in the room seem to be stemming from Ginga and herself.

"Well, that's it for this evening," Shamal said at the conclusion of the session. "Thank you all for coming. Please help yourself to the refreshments."

All the regular attendees stood and shared quite murmurs together in front of their chairs. Nanoha retrieved her purse from under her chair and made her way towards the exit of the conference room. She hated to appear rude and antisocial during the first meeting, but she was anxious to check on Vivio and get her out of headquarters as soon as possible.

She made it halfway down the hallway when she heard a voice call out behind her. "Nanoha, hang on a second!" Ginga said loudly.

Nanoha stopped in her tracks and spun around with fury now burning in her eyes. "What, Ginga? I really don't have time for any of your games right now."

Ginga's jaw flexed at first in response to Nanoha's harshness. "I'm not trying to play games with you," she replied, her voice tense as well.

"Then what do you want? I have to go."

"I-I just wanted to say..." Ginga tried at first. She suddenly felt awkward, although she was trying her best to come across as sincerely as she could. "I just wanted to tell you that if you ever need someone to watch Vivio, I can do it. Well, not on nights when we have these meetings, of course. But Nove or the other girls can help watch her, too."

Nanoha simply stared blankly at Ginga for several seconds, wondering if she had just fallen into some alternate universe. The woman she considered an enemy less than a month ago was now unexpectedly offering to babysit her daughter.

"And why the hell would I want you to do that?" she eventually asked.

Ginga finally reached her breaking point with her attitude. "Fine. You know what, Nanoha? Nevermind, Just forget I even mentioned it."

The instructor stood motionless as Ginga stormed off past her and headed towards the lobby doors. Nanoha then groaned and looked to the ceiling in frustration. Finally, she called to Ginga before she could exit the building.

"Ginga, wait a minute!"

Ginga stopped short of the lobby doors at her request. As Nanoha approached her, she looked out through the glass towards the parking lot. She spotted Nove idling in front of the building, ready to pick Ginga up. The red-haired woman smiled and waved through the windshield of her car. Nanoha returned the gesture and then turned her attention back to Ginga.

"I don't know if I'll ever need to take you up on your offer," she began, "but thank you for saying you would watch her. It's difficult to find help when Fate-chan is gone. I appreciate it."

Ginga's steadily met Nanoha's gaze. She wasn't sure when the last time was the two had seen eye to eye. "Sure. No problem," she replied.

Nove honked the car horn once and held her hands up in their direction. Ginga hurried out the front lobby doors towards the car without another word. Nanoha waited for just a moment longer before turning towards the daycare in the opposite direction. She was now more anxious than ever to retrieve her daughter that evening.

**oOOOo**

During dinner, Nanoha was completely distracted as she filled out emergency paperwork regarding her security clearance. Vivio attempted to tell her mother of her day at school and at the daycare afterward. After receiving a few distant acknowledgments, she eventually decided it best to eat her meal in silence. When she finished, she excused herself from the table so that she could finish her homework. Her mother didn't even bat an eye when she left.

When Nanoha finally registered that Vivio was missing from the table, she sighed in guilt and shut down her transmitter. As she took their dirtied plates into the kitchen, Raising Heart illuminated against her chest.

"_Incoming transmission, my Master._"

She pulled up her transmitter and pressed the 'Receive' icon. She had been expecting this call.

"Hey, what's up?" Nanoha said.

"Good evening, Nanoha," Hayate greeted in return. She then held up a paper in front of her screen. "You know, this was an interesting request that just came across the system."

"Is it?" Nanoha replied casually. "It seems pretty like a pretty standard request. I can't train the future Enforcers if I don't know what the current ones are fighting against."

Hayate released the paper and gave her an exasperated look. "Oh, come on! I thought I would get a better excuse from you than that."

"It's not an excuse! It's the truth."

"You know that you don't have a 'need-to-know' clearance for current terrorist activities."

"And that's why I was asking for it!"

Hayate shook her head. "I'm sorry, Nanoha. I won't deny your request myself, but I can tell you right now there's no way my supervisors are going to approve this."

"Why not?"

"Because they aren't approving _any_ new clearance requests for people on the target list. They don't want people to start panicking."

Nanoha clenched her fists and became silent. She despised the bureaucracy of TSAB sometimes, especially during times like these. It was maddening that there could be information that directly pertained to her and Vivio's safety – their _lives_ \- and she wasn't allowed to know it. All because someone else with a higher rank thought they knew what was best for her family.

"You weren't the first to ask," Hayate continued. "And I'm sure you won't be the last."

"But what if there is something we need to know to help protect ourselves?"

Hayate's expression softened significantly. "If there is a real risk, the Bureau will increase security as necessary."

"Yeah, because they did such a great job the last time..." Nanoha mumbled sarcastically.

"Hey, they caught us off-guard that one time," Hayate calmly replied. "But that won't happen again. You know, you seem like you need to relax a little. A few of us are headed over to Velvet tonight and you are -"

"Ugh! Goodbye, Hayate!" Nanoha shut down her screen before she could finish her sentence.

Nanoha took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She had being feeling more stress than usual over these past ten days. The only information she had been told of Fate and the Enforcers' mission was that there was nothing to report. The simple statement opened up a world of possibilities of what was actually going on with her lover a galaxy away. Her mind raced with negative thoughts constantly. She hated the reaction she was having, but she also couldn't seem to control it.

Less than a minute passed and Raising Heart was shining against her chest again. "_Incoming Transmission, my Master,_" it said once more.

Nanoha groaned and brought up her screen with a wave of her hand. She pressed the "Receive" button with force and placed her hands on her hips. "I told you, Hayate... I'm not..." she began, but when she saw that it was not Hayate but _Fate_ on her screen now, her voice trailed off.

"Nanoha? Can you hear me?" Fate asked while squinting at the screen. The picture was blurry and full of static. She adjusted the calibration on her end until the picture was clearer.

As Fate slowly came into focus on her screen, Nanoha could feel her chest welling up and her throat constricting. Every line she had rehearsed in the past week and a half for that exact moment suddenly escaped her mind. Her mouth opened and shut a few times, but no words able to escape.

Fate eventually smiled at her reaction. "I missed you too, Nanoha..." she said gently.

Nanoha exhaled a short breath and brought her hand to her mouth. She nodded a few times, the overwhelming joy and relief that Fate was still okay now beginning to flood over her. After clearing her throat twice, she was finally able to compose herself to give a response.

"How are things going there?" she managed to get out.

Fate's smile faltered with the question. "It's not going all that great," she replied with sadness, "but we're still trying."

"Well, that's okay. There's only so much you can do. I'm surprised they even let you call home though, if that's the case."

"Yes, but only for a few minutes each. The captain doesn't want our location traced if we send out communications for too long. Even this might be too much, but we still want to take the chance."

Nanoha frowned. "Well, I can't say I'm happy to hear that this is a risk. I'm glad to be able to talk to you though, even if it is just for a few minutes."

Fate narrowed her eyes at Nanoha, as if she were studying her. "You look tired," she mentioned. "Have you been pushing yourself too hard? You always do that."

"Probably not as hard as you," she smiled in return. "And what about you? Have you been eating properly? Let me see your tummy."

"My tummy?!" Fate repeated loudly. She turned a bright red and puffed out her cheeks. "I'm eating the usual amount, Nanoha."

"Nyahaha, liar!" Nanoha laughed. "But, I guess that makes us even."

Fate smiled as well. "I guess it does. So, how's Vivio?"

Nanoha looked over her shoulder to see if she was still alone in the room. She wished she could retrieve their daughter from her bedroom to come say hello, but she knew it was impossible if Fate's first call home was going to be cut short.

"She's doing just fine," she replied. "She misses you a lot."

"Tell her I miss her too, please."

"I will." Nanoha suddenly recalled Ginga's offer to babysit Vivio that evening. She figured it was best to tell Fate of the odd occurrence while she had the chance. "A strange thing happened tonight, actually. I was talking to Ginga, and she offered to watch Vivio if I ever needed her to."

Fate raised her eyebrows high. "You were talking to Ginga?!" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, not by choice. We had our first anger management class together tonight."

The crimson eyes grew even wider, and Nanoha could see her mouth twitching at the corners. "O-oh..." she eked out.

"Yeah..."

It wasn't long before Fate's expression turned from shock to one of concern. "Did it seem like there was a reason why Ginga was offering to watch her?"

"I'm not sure, honestly," Nanoha replied. "She didn't seem to like the idea of Vivio being at the daycare there at headquarters."

The Enforcer's eyebrows drew in tighter, and her alarmed reaction did nothing to calm Nanoha's nerves. "But she didn't say anything specifically about it?" she then asked.

"No."

"I see..."

A voice could be heard speaking off-screen on Fate's end. The blond looked away and acknowledged whoever it was that was speaking to her. She then nodded and turned her attention back towards Nanoha.

"I have to go now," she said, her voice filled with remorse. "My time's up here."

"O-Oh, okay. I understand," Nanoha replied quietly. She hated it, but she understood it. The tears she had held back earlier made a return appearance, although the last thing she wanted to do was start crying in front of Fate.

"I'm sorry, Nanoha," Fate added.

Nanoha shook her head. "Don't be, Fate-chan. I'm grateful I was able to talk to you at all."

"Me, too."

Fate held her hand up to her screen and lightly brushed her fingertips over the surface. Nanoha raised her hand and touched her own fingers over the image. Tears began to fall, the few that she just couldn't hold back anymore. She missed Fate terribly. That part was a given. But suddenly seeing her like this made her longing exponentially worse. She was now about to lose her again too, just as quickly as she had gotten her back.

"I miss you so much..." she breathed.

"I miss you, too," Fate said with equal sorrow. "I love you, Nanoha."

Nanoha had to take a deep breath. "I love you, too. Please be careful out there, Fate-chan."

"I will." The Enforcer was the first to pull her hand away from the screen. "I'll talk to you again as soon as I can, okay? I promise."

"Um-hmm. I'll be here. Always."

Fate waved one last time before ending the transmission between the two. Nanoha stared blankly at the black screen after she disappeared. It seemed to perfectly resemble the void she was feeling inside now. She slowly brought her hand to her chest and looked around their home. A whirlwind of emotions was brewing inside of her. Never before had she been so thrown off by a call home from Fate. She had to wonder if this was going to be her reaction every time she got a call from her from now on, or was it happening because she had been caught so off-guard this one time?

This roller coaster was not sustainable, that much she knew for sure. It felt like a slow torture. Her mother's words of warning crossed her mind, and she had to give a bitter chuckle as she reflected on them. She was right all along. Adding romance to their relationship made it much more difficult for her to handle after all.

"Mama?"

She spun around and found Vivio standing at the entrance to the kitchen. The little girl was staring at her mother with deep concern in her eyes. Nanoha quickly brushed the tears away from her cheeks with the palm of her hand and tried to compose herself.

"Yes, Vivio?" she replied as calmly as she could.

"Are you sad because Fate-Mama isn't here?" her daughter asked.

"Oh, sweetie..." she said and beckoned her over. As Vivio approached, Nanoha bent down on one knee so that she could be face-to-face with her. "You're right. I _am_ sad that she isn't here right now. But I know she's out there saving people. And because of that, I have to be as strong as possible here to support her."

Vivio nodded solemnly. "Then I'll be strong for you, Mama. So that you can be strong for Fate-Mama."

Nanoha's breath caught in her chest and she drew her daughter into a tight hug. The last thing she wanted was for her daughter to see her cry harder, so she brushed away the new tears falling out of her sight over her shoulder.

"Thank you, Vivio," Nanoha told her. "You're already very strong. I wouldn't be able to do all this without you. Neither would your Fate-Mama."

"I miss her, Mama. I wish she didn't have to leave all the time."

"She misses you too." Nanoha pulled away and gently held her daughter by the shoulders. "But we have to appreciate all the time we get to spend together with her, okay? We can't focus on when we're apart."

Vivio nodded again, and Nanoha found herself wishing she could follow her own advice when it came to thinking about Fate being away on this mission.

"Did you finish your homework?" she then asked, changing the subject in hopes to refocus both of their attention.

"I did, but the teacher wants you to sign it."

"Sounds good." Nanoha rose to her feet and extended her hand towards her daughter. "Let's go work on that now."

"Okay. It's still in my room."

While Vivio led her mother to her bedroom, a thought crossed Nanoha's mind. "Wait, I never had to sign your homework before?" she mentioned.

"We have a new teacher. She said she wants to make sure you check it."

Vivio opened the bedroom door and made a beeline for her desk in the corner. Two sheets of notebook paper, both filled with her neat handwriting, sat next to her math textbook on the desk. The diligent student sat down and posed her pencil over the paper. Nanoha leaned over her shoulder and began to double-check her answers.

"You should try this one again," she said, pointing to her answer to problem #13. Vivio studied it, then erased the answer she had written down incorrectly

"Thanks, Mama."

Nanoha moved to her daughter's dresser and began to retrieve pajamas for her to wear to bed. Vivio turned around fully in her chair and stared at her mother.

"Yes, Vivio?" she eventually asked.

"Could you read me a story tonight, Mama?"

"Hmmm..." Nanoha pretended to think hard over the request. In all honestly, she hadn't been able to read a bedtime story to Vivio since Fate had left. Her nights had become filled with work once again, usually lasting late into the night.

"Pretty _please_?" Vivio pled further.

"Yes, I can read you a story," Nanoha smiled. "But not until you brush your teeth and get into your pajamas."

"Yay!" Vivio cried. She corrected the problem she missed on her homework and was out her bedroom door in a flash to brush her teeth.

Nanoha stood near the edge of the bed and set the stack of folded pajamas down on the comforter. Glancing around the bedroom, she found herself marveling at the years that had already passed since she and Fate had adopted her. Their daughter was progressing so fast and excelled at nearly everything she did, and she seemed to grow a bit taller every time Nanoha turned around.

She was suddenly reminded of one of her favorite quotes from her childhood, something her own mother would recite to her children with affection throughout the years – "_Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different..._"

Turning away from Vivio's bed, she approached the bookshelf and retrieved _The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe_ from the top shelf. She couldn't remember if she or Fate had ever read the Narnia series to their daughter. But after recalling the C.S. Lewis quote from her own childhood, she decided tonight was a great night to start it.

Vivio came back into the room and saw the book in her mother's hand. "Is that what we're going to read tonight?!" she asked with excitement.

"Yes, if that's okay with you?"

Vivio hugged her mother around the waist. "Um-hmm! Will we be able to finish it tonight?"

Nanoha shook her head and patted Vivio on the head with affection. "Oh, I don't think that's possible. It's a long story. But we can keep reading it every night until it's finished."

The smile on Vivio's face grew even brighter. "Every night? Really?! I love you, Mama!"

Nanoha laughed a little at her overjoyed reaction. "I love you too, Vivio. Now come on, let's get you ready for bed."

**oOOOo**

Fate could hear Subaru's voice as she approached the communications room from the adjacent hallway. When she turned the corner, she found Teana slouched against the wall near the open doorway. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were closed. Fate wondered if her partner had managed to fall asleep standing up.

Teana opened her eyes when she heard her approaching. "Hey, Fate," she said and stood up straight again.

"Hello, Teana. Is Subaru still talking to Ginga?"

"Yeah, she is. I donated my time so she could talk a little longer. She's still a bit shook up after what happened earlier."

"That was very kind of you."

"Maybe..." the younger Enforcer murmured quietly. "Of course, the only person I would be calling is here with me now. There's no point in wasting the minutes."

Fate studied the expression on Teana's face that had turned solemn. Her statement was devastatingly true. Her biological family was all gone. The Nakajima's had taken on their role as her family, especially Subaru.

"I'm sorry, Teana," Fate said to her.

Teana shook her head. "It's okay. In the end, the terrorists can't mess with me because I don't have anyone left in my family. So, jokes on them, right?"

"Right..." Fate glanced into the room to ensure Subaru was still speaking to her sister. "By the way, thanks for what you did early. I'm glad you could be there for her today. She really needed you."

"I guess she did," she replied. She then gave a bitter smile. "It's kind of ironic, in a way. A big reason why we didn't work out the first time was because she couldn't adjust to my life as an Enforcer. It was really hard on her. But now here she is, an Enforcer herself."

Fate's eyebrows raised at the sudden admission regarding their private situation. "Oh, wow. I didn't realize that was the reason why it didn't work before."

"Um-hmm. She couldn't understand what I was going through. All she could see was that I wasn't calling her and messaging her like I used to. It put a lot of pressure on me and I freaked out. I didn't want to commit to a relationship like that."

"I could see how that would happen," Fate replied. "But now that she knows what happens as an Enforcer, maybe you two can - ?"

"No," Teana interrupted quickly before Fate could finish her thought. "We really can't. I mean, yeah, I was upset at first when she said no to us trying again. But now I know it was for the best. There's no way we could do this and try to have a relationship too. It would destroy us."

Fate nodded. "That's probably for the best."

"Hey, how's Nanoha?" Teana asked to change the subject. "Where you able to get a hold of her?"

"I did. She's doing good. She looked a little tired. And she had her first anger management class with Ginga tonight."

Teana snickered. "Man, I wish I could have been there to see that."

"Yeah, no kidding," Fate grinned as well, unable to contain her own amusement at the thought.

Fate and Teana heard Subaru begin to conclude her conversation with Ginga. After saying goodbye, she shut down her transmitter and exited the communication room. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Fate standing beside Teana in the hallway.

"Oh, geez! Sorry!" Subaru said to her team leader. "I didn't know even know you were here."

"Did you have a good talk with Ginga?" Teana asked.

Subaru nodded. "I did. She was really upset to hear about what happened to our dad's look-a-like. But she also said she's proud of me for trying to save him."

Her teammates both smiled. "That's great," Teana said.

"Oh, Fate! I almost forgot," Subaru then said. "Ginga said to tell you that she'll be doing her best to fulfill her promise to you. I don't know what that means exactly, but she wanted to make sure you knew that."

Fate's eyes immediately grew wider. Piecing together what Ginga had offered to Nanoha earlier, and now this message through Subaru, she understood her former partner was trying to get a message out that she probably wasn't supposed to. Without a word, Fate pulled up Bardiche and started typing frantically to access the database.

"What is it, Fate?" Teana asked, sensing her panic.

"I don't know exactly," she mused. "But I'm going to find out."

When she reached the area designated 'Top Secret' in the database, she entered her authorization code and was granted access. Several memos had been posted since she had last reviewed the intelligence briefings. The alert posted two hours prior immediately caught her attention – "_Intel Suggests Mid-Childa Children on List At High Risk of Kidnapping._"

"Oh, god..." Teana muttered after reading the ominous title over Fate's shoulder. She covered her mouth with her hand and attempted to quell the nauseous feeling brewing inside. They had seen way too much horror that day to have to deal with this now.

"What is it, Tea?" Subaru asked. She moved so that she could read the memo as well. Her mouth fell open and her skin went pale as she scanned the document. "So, wait. Does that mean Vivio is at risk now?"

"Shut up, Subaru!" Teana groaned.

Fate closed the memo and pulled up Nanoha from her contacts list to call her again. She didn't care about security clearances or who was authorized to know what. Their daughter was in danger and she wasn't about to keep that from her. When she tried pushed the "Call" button on her screen though, there was no response from the system. She tried to press it several more times, each attempt with no result.

"They've already turned off outside communications," Teana said gently as she watched her team leader's fruitless efforts. "You can't call her anymore."

"No..." she said quietly and swallowed hard. "No! There has to be a way."

"There's not a way, Fate. I'm sorry."

"God _damnit_!" Fate suddenly shouted. Her voice echoed down the empty hallway, surprising both her team members. They watched her bury her face in her hands and moan loudly in sheer frustration at the situation. It was taking every ounce of restraint to not lose it completely. She wanted to physically lash out at everything around her.

Teana was the first to move. She wrapped her arms tightly around Fate to help contain her anger. "Hey, it's okay. Calm down, Fate. You have to calm down now. It's going to be okay."

Subaru's eyes darted between the two woman. Never before had she seen Fate break down like that, and she wasn't quite sure what to say or do in that moment. She tried her best to think of what might help her if she were in her team leader's shoes.

"Um, Fate...?" she began cautiously. "You know, if my sister says she's going to do something, she'll do it. No matter what it takes. I promise she won't let anything happen to Vivio."

Fate kept still at first, keeping her face remaining hidden in her hands. Teana pet her on the back of the head to try to soothe her.

"Subaru's right," she assured her. "Ginga will make sure she's safe. You can trust her with your daughter. And you know Nanoha would never let anything happen to Vivio either. She'll be fine."

Fate slowly let the words sink in. Eventually, she removed her hands from her face and wiped the tears from her eyes with shaky hands. "Yeah..." she said with a reluctant nod. "Yeah, I know."

Bardiche's screen lit up again. "_Incoming message, Sir,_" the mechanical voice said. Fate nodded at Teana, indicating she could read it first since she wasn't in the proper state to do so at the moment.

"Signum needs us up on the bridge ASAP," Teana told her after scanning the message. "Apparently they have new information on the leader."

Fate cleared her throat and wiped under her eyes one last time. "Okay," she said with a now steadier voice. Her confidence was beginning to build again with a new hope of ending this ordeal. "Alright, let's get up there then. We don't want to miss anything important."

Teana and Subaru both smiled and nodded at their leader. "Okay!" they replied in unison.

* * *

**A/N:** There were some pretty amazing reviews after the last update. I appreciate each and every one of them! A special thanks goes out to **SapphoSensei** for the commentary. You have always provided positive feedback and suggestions in my stories, which has helped me grow as a writer over the years. Thanks to everyone for continuing on with the story with me. Until next time! ~Nissanity~


	8. Chapter 8 - Losing an Illusion

**A/N: **My apologies for the time it took to get this chapter out. I had to rewrite it several times to get it right.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.

* * *

**UNBREAKABLE**

by : ~Nissanity~

**Chapter 8 – ****_Losing an Illusion_**

* * *

_~Day 18~_

Nanoha accidentally typed the incorrect answer into the text field for a third time in a row. The daily statistics she was entering had to be completed before she could analyze the recruits' progress for that week. Once the information was accurate in the system, she could revamp the training plans for all twenty of her students.

However, her progress at the training field that afternoon was slowed due to her own exhaustion. Her eyes were burning and beginning to cross as she continuously stared at Raising Heart's screen. She blinked hard and shook her head to try to focus her vision again.

After witnessing her make a fourth mistake, Vita came to stand beside her. "Nanoha...?" she tried.

"Hmmm?"

With a loud sigh, she turned off the screen by pressing the 'X' button in the upper right corner. "This is getting ridiculous," she said. "You need to go home and get some rest."

Nanoha immediately brought her screen back up. "No, I _need_ to finish this," she countered.

"You look like shit."

"I feel fine."

Vita shut down the screen once more. "You can finish this tomorrow. It won't even take you that long if you're not making all these stupid mistakes."

"Maybe..." the instructor responded thoughtfully. "If I left now, it would give me time to stop by the grocery store before I pick Vivio up."

The fiery red-haired assistant crossed her arms and sighed again. Her eyebrows drew in and began to twitch with irritation. "I said go home and rest, not do other work instead. Damnit, you're so stubborn sometimes!"

Nanoha couldn't help but giggle at the irony in the statement. "Look who's talking," she replied and patted Vita on the head.

"Just go," she grumbled. "I'll tell Hayate what's going on."

Begrudgingly, Nanoha left the instructors' platform and started the long journey back to headquarters. She hated how heavy her legs felt as she walked. Her body was breaking down like it had weeks prior, back when she and Fate had first gotten together. Exhaustion had gotten the best of her during that time and made her sick. She was close to reaching that limit again, only this time Fate wouldn't be there to take care of her if she pushed herself too far.

She eventually made it to her office to retrieve her purse and car keys from her desk. The idea of allowing her body rest that evening was something she accepted, but only with the trade-off that she would be back to her usual self to next day. With her health restored, she knew she could accomplish even more work in the following days. She still planned a trip to the grocery store that afternoon though, whether Vita liked the idea or not.

The trip to her usual market was uneventful, although there were a few times Nanoha noticed herself dozing off at the wheel. An energy drink was added to the grocery list she created in her mind. As she walked through the front doors of the grocery store, she grabbed a small hand basket and headed towards the produce section first.

While browsing the selection of apples, she spotted a familiar face entering the store. Vivio's school teacher saw her at the same time and waved hello.

"Ms. Takamachi!" she said warmly. "It's so good to see you! I feel like it's been ages."

"Hello, Ms. Sugawara," Nanoha replied. "It has been a while. How are things?"

"Oh, hectic as always. How about you?"

"Yes, about the same for me," Nanoha replied. She then looked down to her watch. "Wait, aren't you out a bit early on a school day?"

"Who, me?" the teacher said in surprise. "Did Vivio not tell you? I'm no longer her teacher at school. I was offered a position elsewhere. I'm leaving Mid-Childa very soon, actually."

"Oh, that's right. Vivio did say something about having a new teacher."

The sincere smile the teacher had faltered at the mention of the new teacher. "Hmm, yes..." was all she said.

Nanoha sensed her reluctance and immediately became concerned. "What? Is there something I should know about her?"

"No, not at all!" she replied quickly with a new, nervous smile. "I'm probably being a little sensitive. I was with the children for so long. I'm just a little protective of them is all."

"I see..." was Nanoha's only reply. That's all she could say at the moment. Her heart had jumped into her throat with the ominous feeling that had overcome her.

Ms. Sugawara looked past Nanoha's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Takamachi, but I do have to run," she said. "I only popped in to get some drinks for the movers. If you'll excuse me?"

"Yes, of course. It was good seeing you again. Take care of yourself."

Nanoha waited until Vivio's teacher had left the produce section and entered another part of the store. Once out of her sight, she returned the few items in her basket to the shelves and headed for the exit. At the front doors, she nearly threw the hand basket back onto the stack and hurried to the parking lot. With what she had just been told by Ms. Sugawara, she wanted to confront Vivio's new teacher herself as soon as possible.

**oOOOo**

"Hey, Ginga? What time is my meeting downstairs again?" Hayate asked.

Pulling up the scheduler on her screen, Ginga toggled over to the events section and scrolled down to the current date. "Um... In about thirty minutes," she replied.

Hayate hummed as she stood in front of her desk and searched the paperwork on top of it. Her left hand absently moved across the top of the uniform jacket to smooth it, a gesture that Ginga recognized as nervousness. The commander always became flustered when she had to give a presentation to a large group of people.

"Ah, here it is..." Hayate said after a minute. With a stack of paperwork in hand, she crossed the office to Ginga's desk. "These are the objectives for the presentation. You'll need to make copies for everyone."

Ginga rose from her desk and took them from her. "Do you know how many people will be there today?"

"I'm sorry, I don't. You will have to find out from the assistant coordinator downstairs."

"No problem," Ginga replied. Before leaving, she moved to the other side of her desk to stand in front of her supervisor. "Hey, you don't have to be so nervous. You're going to do great today."

The comment seemed to take Hayate back a bit. "I-I'm not nervous," she tried. After her failed attempted at confidence, she looked away to the floor and gave a weak shrug. "Well... maybe a little."

Ginga couldn't help but smile at her reaction. A small piece of lint on the right lapel of Hayate's blazer then caught her eye. "Hold still. You have something right here," she said while gently pulling it off.

"Thank you, Ginga," was her supervisor's quiet response. Hayate continued to look down at the spot where Ginga's hand had just been, a small blush beginning to pepper her cheeks.

Their shared moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching the office door. Hayate moved towards the center of the room to see who was paying her a visit. Nanoha knocked twice and hovered just inside the doorway.

"Can I speak with you, Hayate?" she asked.

Hayate gestured with her hand for her to enter. "Yes, of course. Vita told me you left early today. I'm surprised to see that you're back. What can I help you with?"

Nanoha walked across the office to stand directly in front of Hayate. The air of tension surrounding her did not escape Ginga or Hayate's attention. They both shared a look of concern just out of her sight.

"I need to know more about the teacher who took over Vivio's class," she announced.

"The teacher?" Hayate repeated in confusion. "Why don't you go talk to her yourself?"

"I tried, but she's out sick today. I know the Bureau runs a security screen on all new hires if it involves the school. I want to see it."

Hayate raised her eyebrows high. "You can't be serious right now!"

Nanoha crossed her arms and took another defiant step forward. "Does it look like I'm joking?" she replied. "I have a right to know who is teaching my daughter."

"You know I can't give you that sort of information," Hayate said with her hands raised defensively. "Privacy laws exist for a reason."

"I don't care about that. I'm her mother and -"

"Hey, Ginga?" the commander interrupted and turned to her assistant. "Could you please take that paperwork to the office for me? I'll be downstairs in a bit."

Ginga nodded and headed towards the door. "Yeah, sure," she replied. As she made her way to exit the office, she glanced over her shoulder and met Hayate's eyes once more with concern. Once in the hallway, she moved towards a partition beside the door and stood in its shadow. It wasn't the first time she had used that spot to eavesdrop on a conversation that didn't directly involve her.

"Nanoha, we can't keep having discussions like this," she heard Hayate say, her voice turning stern. "The school's security is at the highest level possible. Both the Church and the Bureau are guarding it. You have to stop worrying so much."

Nanoha's voice raised higher. "That's the best answer you're going to give me? Don't tell me how I should or shouldn't feel, Hayate! You have no idea what it's like to have worry about the people you love like this. "

"You think I'm not worried?!" Hayate shouted back. "My name is on that stupid list, too. And so are the rest of my family and friends. Everyone I care about could be in danger. So don't pretend like I don't understand!"

"If you understand, then why are you holding back information from me?!"

"Because I have to! Just because we don't like certain rules doesn't mean we can break them whenever we feel like it."

"Whatever," Nanoha seethed. Ginga could hear her now walking back towards the office door. "I'll get the information I need, with or without your help."

Nanoha exited the office and flew past Ginga without noticing her standing in the shadows. When she had made it halfway down the corridor, Ginga pulled away from the wall and began to follow behind her. Nanoha sharply turned the corner to return to the elevator. When Ginga reached the second hallway a few seconds later, she witnessed Nanoha impatiently pressing the down button several times.

Ginga closed the distance between them and grabbed her above the elbow to get her attention. "Nanoha...?" she tried.

Nanoha nearly jumped out of her skin at the contact. She pulled her device from the necklace around her neck so that she could transform. "Raising Heart –!"

Ginga used her other hand to try to block the motion. "Whoa, calm down! It's just me."

The bright sapphire eyes flashed with a sense of anger behind them. "You scared me half to death, Ginga!" she nearly yelled.

"I'm sorry," she replied sincerely. "I swear, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to get your attention."

Nanoha exhaled a sigh and relaxed a little. Her eyes glanced up at the indicator above the elevator several times. The cab still had a few floors to pass through before it would arrive at their floor. "Is there something you wanted?" she asked.

Ginga took a step closer and quieted her voice. "We should talk," she simply said.

"Talk?" Nanoha repeated with her head turned slightly. She searched Ginga's eyes and seemed to recognize the seriousness behind them. "Um... Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Not now," Ginga shook her head. "It can't be here at headquarters."

"Okay. Do you want to call me later?"

"No, it has to be in person. There can't be any record of it."

The elevator chimed and the doors open beside them. Nanoha seemed visibly torn as she looked inside the empty cab and then back at Ginga. "I have to pick Vivio up and take her home now," she said. "You can come by my house later, if you want."

"Alright. I'll stop by your place after work then."

Nanoha entered the cab and pushed the button to take her to the lower level lobby. She gave Ginga a small, tense smile as the doors shut between them. Once she was gone, Ginga looked down at the papers in her hand and realized she still had to get herself downstairs. The stairwell to her right would be her fastest option now.

A voice from behind stopped her in her tracks. "Man, those anger management classes really work miracles, don't they?" the familiar voice said. Ginga turned and found Hayate now approaching her in the short hallway.

"Um, yeah... Apparently so," she responded as casually as possible.

"I was going to try to catch up to Nanoha to reason with her," Hayate continued, "but it looks like you beat me to it."

As Hayate approached, Ginga noticed she has a new, unfamiliar expression on her face. Her jaw was flexed and she appeared to be swallowing hard, her eyes filled with mixed emotions. She could usually read Hayate like an open book, but now...

"Why are you going to Nanoha's house, Ginga?" Hayate then asked, her voice laced with contempt.

Ginga nearly recoiled at the tone the of question. "Excuse me? I don't see how that is any of your business, Commander."

Hayate narrowed her eyes at her. "You can drop the 'commander' act already. This is my business. Nanoha and Fate are my best friends. I won't let you do anything to jeopardize what they have between them now."

"And how would I do that exactly?"

Hayate pointed towards the elevator doors. "You know that Nanoha isn't making the best decisions right now. There are a lot of things you could do to take advantage of her tonight."

The insinuation caused Ginga's heart to sink in her chest. "That's what you really think of me?" she said quietly. "After all this... I'm still just some sort of bad guy to you?"

Silence was Hayate's only response as she steadily held her gaze. That was all the confirmation Ginga needed. She pushed past her supervisor and headed back towards the office with the full intention of packing her belongings at her desk. She just hoped she could get through it without breaking down completely.

When Ginga felt Hayate's hand suddenly grab hers, she stopped walking and look back at the gesture with surprise. The two had never shared any sort of physical contact before like that. Hayate's eyes were now shadowed beneath her bangs and cast down toward the floor.

"Hayate...?"

"I don't think of you like that. I really don't... a-at all," she said with a cracking voice. "I'm sorry I said it. I don't even know where it came from. Please forgive me."

Ginga was stunned. She had never seen Hayate leave herself so open and vulnerable before. There was a pause while Ginga regained her own composure. She eventually squeezed Hayate's hand in return to reassure her.

"It's okay," she told her. "I get it."

Hayate nodded and let her hand linger in Ginga's for a second longer before pulling away. She turned and pressed the button to call the elevator back to their floor. She then pointing to the documents in Ginga's hand.

"I won't keep you from taking those downstairs," she said.

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

The elevator soon chimed and the doors opened once again. Ginga stepped inside the empty cab and turned back around. Hayate was already walking back down the small hallway to return to her office. Ginga watched her retreating figure until the doors slid closed between them.

**oOOOo**

The sound of rustling papers echoed against the walls of the conference room. Fate sat alone in the room and slowly scanned the pages that lay on the table in front of her. The autopsy reports of the ten most recent victims stared back at her, all murdered in cold blood just three days prior. The hostages had been executed within minutes of each other, beginning with the man who looked like Subaru and Ginga's father. Their time of death were estimated to be a few hours before Fate's team had arrived at the fallout shelter to rescue them.

When Fate received paper copies of the reports that morning, she instructed Teana and Subaru to go to lunch early while she reviewed the documents. It was unusual for her to receive hard copies of anything, let alone something like autopsy reports. Updates were usually sent electronically to all of her team members' devices. She wanted to find out the reasoning for the change in protocol before she discussed the findings with her team.

She had just finished rereading the experts' analysis for a third time when the door opened to the conference room. Signum entered and quietly shut the door behind her. She approached the table in the center with a classified manila folder tucked under her arm.

"Good morning, Testarossa," she said.

"Good morning, Signum."

The pink-haired knight took the seat directly across from her. "Are those the autopsy reports?" she asked while gesturing to the paperwork on the table in front of her.

"They are," Fate replied. She slid the folder in her direction. "You're welcome to take a look at them."

Signum set her own folder down on the table before examining the reports. She first scanned the summary page that Fate had just been reviewing. About halfway down the sheet, she took note of the Bureau's official reasoning for the manner in which they were executed.

"_...killed all at once to help conceal whereabouts..._" she read in a half-mumble. "_...disposing of the bodies over several days more of a risk..._"

"Um-hmm," was Fate's only response.

Signum lowered the paper and looked across the table. "Do you think that's why they killed them all at once?"

Fate paused as she weighed the question. Her opinion of their motives was drastically different from the experts' conclusions. They took one life per day, a symbol of the Enforcers' consistent failures. But they were killed mere hours before their arrival, their lives slipping away just out of their reach. If her team had just responded a bit faster, figured it all out a bit sooner, perhaps the victims would still be alive today.

"No," she eventually replied. "I think they were sending us another message. We didn't move fast enough to save them. In a way, it's our fault they died."

"That's probably a more accurate assessment," Signum said. "After all, nothing Kannon Sao does is without a meaning or purpose."

The unfamiliar name instantly caught Fate's attention. "Is that –?"

Signum slid the classified folder across the desk. "Yes, we finally learned his real name and more about his background. He couldn't remain anonymous forever."

Fate opened the folder and found a profile picture of the leader staring right back at her. The photograph, taken several years prior, showed him to be a clean-shaven and well-dressed citizen when he registered with TSAB. His professional record was pristine and thorough, all until he disappeared from the Bureau's radar over a decade prior.

"He has ties to TSAB..." Fate mused as she read on about his history.

"He _had_ ties," Signum replied. "It seems he collaborated with the Enforcers on a few cases. He's an expert in wilderness survival."

"But we never worked with him ourselves, right?"

"No, that was almost two decades ago."

Fate closed the folder and sighed. "I don't understand why he is specifically targeting us then."

"I'm sure that will come to light soon enough," Signum responded. "Our informants have helped us this much so far. Now we can track down his territory and get more information on his motives."

"Yeah, that's great..." Fate said, her voice beginning to grow distant.

Signum couldn't help but give a small chuckle with her lack of enthusiasm. "Of all people, I was expecting _you_ to be more excited about this."

The blond gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry, Signum," she said. "I think your team has been working very hard. It really shows."

"Ah, I get it," the knight responded knowingly. "You know, it's difficult for your team to complete your mission if you don't know who you're looking for, much less where to find them. No one is faulting you for that."

Fate could feel her frustration beginning to grow. "It's easy for you to say that, Signum. My team has contributed nothing to the mission so far. We might as well have not come here at all."

Signum took a patient breath and pointed to Kannon Sao's closed folder in front of her. "Well, if that's how you feel, here's your chance to change things."

"Maybe..."

"After all, we aren't going home until this is over," Signum added, her voice turning stern. "You might as well suck it up and keep moving forward. I'm pretty sure Nanoha would be kicking your ass for being so unmotivated when we're this close. Am I right?"

Fate's head snapped up at the mention of her lover's name. The comment was blunt and realistic, a characteristic move on Signum's part. Her mentor often used Nanoha as some sort of trigger to keep Fate on track over the years, and it always seemed to work without fail.

"You're right. She wouldn't be happy," she nodded seriously. She flipped open the classified folder once more to study the details of Kannon Sao's profile in depth.

As the two worked in silence, the door to the conference room unexpectedly opened. Both Signum and Fate rose and stood at attention when they realized the captain of the ship was entering the room. Teana and Subaru trailed into the room a few steps behind her.

"Good morning, Ma'am," the two team leaders said in unison.

The captain took the empty seat at the table between them. She gestured for them to return to their own chairs. "Good morning," she said to them both. "Enforcers Lanster and Nakajima were kind enough to show me where you two were. I hope you don't mind me dropping in on your meeting unannounced?"

"Yes, of course," Fate responded politely.

"What can we help you with this morning, Captain?" Signum asked.

"I'm afraid I received some disturbing news this morning from headquarters," she said gravely. "The IT department has concluded that the Bureau's database was not hacked by anyone externally."

"What do they think happened?" Fate asked.

"They believe the intelligence the group has about our Enforcers originated from someone with authorized access to the system."

Signum visibly tensed. "Someone inside the Bureau is giving the terrorists our families' information?"

The captain nodded solemnly. "It appears so. This is why you two received hard copies of the reports this morning. We would like to keep new intelligence off the mainframe for now. The less the group knows about what we know, the better."

Fate looked to her teammates seated beside her. Teana looked dumbfounded and Subaru devastated with the news. The last thing anyone could imagine was one of their own providing such treason. For many members, TSAB was the only family they had to call their own.

"Is it someone here on the ship? Or are they at headquarters?" Signum asked.

"Again, no one is sure. We are now asking all teams to be extra vigilant of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity at once."

Fate nodded. "Absolutely. We will do our best."

"On that note," the captain continued, "I'm lifting the communication restrictions for all non-essential personnel during evening liberty hours. There's no reason to continue concealing our whereabouts. If someone on the inside is feeding the group our information, they mostly like already know where we are. They always have."

With the announcement, Fate could feel her spirits begin to lift significantly. She did her best to contain her excitement with the prospect of speaking to Nanoha that evening without restriction. "Thank you, Captain," she said in the calmest voice she could muster.

"Is there anything new you two wish to report while I'm here?"

Both Fate and Signum shook their heads. "Not for now, ma'am," Signum said. "We'll let you know if we discover anything of importance."

The captain stood from her seat. "Well, I'll let you continue what you are doing," she said. "I must inform the other team leaders of this. Please update me with any new developments."

The four Enforcers stood at attention as the captain exited the room. After she had departed, Teana patted Fate twice on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs up. Subaru looked as if she could jump out of her seat with giddiness.

"You must be happy with the restrictions being lifted?" Teana asked her team leader.

Fate couldn't contain her elation. "Yes, very much so," she smiled broadly.

Subaru stretched her arms over her head. "Me, too!" she nearly squealed. "I want to say hi to everyone back home tonight. I want you to be there with me too, Tea."

Teana nodded and looked away. It was obvious she was trying to contain her excitement with the idea. "Well, I guess that would be alright..." she mumbled.

"We still have some time before liberty is called tonight," Fate mentioned. "Let's make sure we work as hard as we can until then."

"I must agree," Signum said. "We have a lot of research to finish this afternoon."

"Of course!" Subaru replied happily.

"Hey, you know what this means guys?" Teana added. "We've finally hit a turning point in the mission. Things can only get better from here on out, right?"

Fate smiled at the notion. "I think you're right, Teana," she said.

**oOOOo**

The knock on the front door came around 5:30pm that evening. Nanoha rose from her seat at the dining room table so that she could greet her guest. Vivio heard the knock from the living room and came barreling into the entryway at the same time. When Nanoha witnessed her daughter put her hand on the doorknob, she felt herself nearly have a heart attack.

"Get away from there, Vivio!" she scolded. "Don't ever answer the door before me!"

Vivio immediately removed her hand from the knob and backed away from the door. Her eyes grew wide and misted over, her feelings wounded by her mother's sudden outburst. Nanoha instantly felt remorse for her overreaction. A second knock rang out. She knew she would have to find a way to make it up to Vivio later that evening.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see both Ginga and Nove standing outside their home. She then remembered that Nove had picked Ginga up from work the previous evening as well. She wasn't aware that the two shared a vehicle, but with so many people living in the Nakajima household, it would make sense.

"Nove, it's great to see you," Nanoha said while gesturing for both to enter. She turned her attention to her other visitor. "Hello again, Ginga."

Nove hugged Nanoha warmly. "It's really good to see you too, Nanoha!" she said.

Vivio stood back and studied the visitors to her home with curiosity. Nanoha wondered how much her daughter remembered of the JS Incident, as well as everyone's involvement in her kidnapping during it. Although Nove had proven herself completely rehabilitated from that situation, there was still a possibility that Vivio would not understand all that right away.

"Vivio, you remember Nove, of course?" her mother asked.

Nove walked across the entryway to stand in front Vivio. "Whoa... You've grown so much!" she exclaimed. "How old are you now? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"No!" Vivio replied with a giggle. "I'm only nine now!"

Nanoha and Ginga's eyes met briefly before they both adverted them away to the floor. It was awkward and tense between them, although that was nothing new. Nanoha led her guests to the dining room with Vivio following close behind. Before they had arrived, she had prepared tea and coffee to welcome Ginga into her home as best as she could.

"What are you learning in school right now, Vivio?" Nove then asked her.

Vivio grinned brightly. "Our substitute taught us about sparring today!"

"Hey, I'm learning about sparring too!" Nove said with matched excitement. "Maybe you can show me what you learned? I'll show you some things I know, too."

Nanoha smiled at Nove, knowing the gesture she was making was to give her and Ginga privacy to talk alone. "You two can use the backyard outside to practice," she offered. "There's plenty of room out there."

Vivio grabbed her new friend by the hand and drug her towards the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard. "Come on, Nove!" she nearly shouted.

Once the door was shut behind them, Nanoha turned her attention back to Ginga. "Would you like some coffee or tea?" she asked. She gestured to the beverages on the table between them.

Ginga sat down in the chair across from Nanoha. "Yes. Coffee, please," she replied.

While Nanoha poured coffee into two separate mugs, Ginga shuffled through the black messenger bag she had brought with her. She pulled out a few papers and dropped on the table in front of Nanoha.

"Here," she said bluntly.

Nanoha picked up the stack with curiosity. "What's this?" she asked.

"The background check and work history of Vivio's new teacher. Don't worry about what Hayate said. It's all public information if you look hard enough for it. I'm just saving you the time."

"Oh...!" Nanoha said in shock. "Um... Thank you. I hope this will help put my mind at ease a little."

Ginga finally met Nanoha's eyes. "Is there a reason why you're worried about her?"

Nanoha gave a little shrug, an attempt to not appear as concerned as she truly was. "Well, I ran into Vivio's former teacher at the store. Her name is Mrs. Sugawara, by the way. She didn't say it outright, but I could tell that she isn't comfortable with the new teacher around the children."

"She isn't?" Ginga remarked with a solemn nod. "That's good information to know,".

Nanoha scanned over the paperwork while Ginga added milk and sugar to her coffee. Nothing she read seemed out of the ordinary. "I don't see anything bad on here," she mentioned.

"You're right," Ginga replied. "Everything checks out with her on paper."

Nanoha sighed and felt deflated by the news. She began to felt foolish for her overreaction, as well as the way she had spoken to Hayate earlier regarding the subject. "I guess I don't have anything to worry about then?" she said quietly.

Ginga shook her head. "I wouldn't say that so soon if I were you," she said.

Nanoha nearly spit out her coffee with Ginga's comment, a mixture of new emotions overtaking her. After all the doubt and brushoffs she had experienced – she finally had some confirmation that her maternal instincts weren't wrong. But at the same time, she didn't want her fears to be justified. It meant there was a legitimate reason to worry for her daughter's safety.

She also had a hunch that Ginga was taking a risk by saying even the little she had. "You could get in trouble for telling me that, couldn't you?" Nanoha asked her.

"I'm not telling you anything specific. I'm just advising you to trust your instincts. If you're worried about Vivio's teacher at school, it must be for a reason."

Nanoha stared hard at Ginga. "Why are you doing all this?"

Ginga met her gaze with equal intensity. "Why are you asking a question that you already know the answer to?" she countered.

Nanoha did not look away, nor did she back down. "You think this will win Fate-chan over?" she asked, her words turning venomous. "That she'll come back and pick you over me? Is that your reason?"

Despite the words that had just been hurled in attack at her, Ginga remained remarkably calm. "I'm not doing this with any sort of expectation from her," she replied evenly. "She has saved my life more times than I can count. I would do anything to repay her for that."

With that reasoning, Nanoha backed down and began to regret the words she had just chosen to say to Ginga. She was attacking the one person on Mid-Childa who was there to help her when she needed someone the most. It was almost as if she couldn't control her reactions or words at this point.

"I'm sorry, Ginga," she eventually said. "I don't even know why I said that."

Ginga sat back fully in her chair again. "It's alright. I'm getting used to people saying things like that to me at this point."

"You still don't deserve it."

"It's fine. You probably won't believe me when I say this," Ginga then added, "but I'm not here to ruin your relationship with Fate. If, or should I say _when_ that does happen, it won't have anything to do with me."

Nanoha visibly flinched. "Wait, you think Fate-chan and I aren't going to make it?" she asked.

"It's nothing personal against you two. It's just that relationships with Enforcers never work out. Everyone thinks they're different and that they can overcome the odds. And then they don't."

"Well, we will," Nanoha told her matter-of-factually. "I know we will. We wouldn't have made this commitment if we didn't think we could do it."

Ginga could help but chuckle at her defiance. "Of course you say that now. You have to. But have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately, Nanoha? You look like you haven't slept in about, let me guess, two weeks now?"

Nanoha gripped her mug tightly and did not responded to the observation, mostly because she knew it was the devastating truth. She had been running on fumes for days now. Every time she tried to rest, she found peace to be elusive. Either she couldn't quiet her mind long enough, or when she did, her sleep was fitful and plagued with nightmares. It was usually easier to stay awake than face what waited for her behind her closed eyelids.

"Can you really say you're happy now?" Ginga pressed on. "Or that you can sustain this pace for years to come?"

"This isn't going to work on me. You can't manipulate me into doubting my relationship with Fate-chan."

Ginga sighed loudly and stood from the table. After slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder, she said, "I didn't come here to have this conversation with you. I just wanted to bring you the information about Vivio's new teacher. I'll get Nove and we'll get out of here."

Nanoha quickly stood and walked in front of Ginga to block her path. "Wait! No, you don't... You don't have to do that."

"Look, Nanoha – " she began.

"You can have dinner here," Nanoha interrupted before Ginga could finish. "You should stay for dinner, I mean. There's more than enough food for everyone."

The back sliding glass door suddenly opened with a bang. Nove and Vivio nearly tumbled back inside the house in a fit of sweat and giggles. "Mama, Nove taught me so many cool things!" Vivio gleefully informed her mother.

Nove looked away in embarrassment. The blush forming on her cheeks nearly matched the hue of her hair. "It's nothing much..." she mumbled.

Nanoha smiled at her daughter. "That's great, sweetie! I can't wait to see what you learned. But for now, will you please go get cleaned up for dinner?"

"Okay!" she replied. Vivio left down the side hallway to use the spare bathroom to wash her hands.

"Nove, would you and Ginga like to stay for dinner?" Nanoha then asked.

Nove look back and forth between Ginga and Nanoha. "Um... yeah, sure," she shrugged. "I'm starving and it smells really good in here."

"Okay, good. Please help yourself to some tea or coffee for now. Dinner should be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Nanoha." Her eyes turned to the direction Vivio had just headed in. "If you don't mind, I think I'll go wash up before dinner first."

Nanoha nodded. "Sure, no problem." Both women waited until Nove had disappeared down the hall before turning to face each other again. Once she was out of earshot, Ginga sighed and shook her head.

"You really don't... have to..." she started to say. Her protests were cut off when Nanoha unexpectedly wrapped her arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly. Ginga didn't dare move an inch. She was too stunned by Nanoha's action to react to it.

"Thank you, Ginga," she said over her shoulder. "It really means a lot to me that you guys are here."

Nanoha pulled away from Ginga just as abruptly as she had embraced her. When she exited the room to go check on dinner, she purposefully made sure to avoid any eye contact with her. Once she reached the middle of the kitchen, she stopped short and sunk her face into her hands. With all her uncharacteristic actions and behaviors that evening, she had to wonder if she was slowly losing her mind.

**oOOOo**

As Fate settled into her rack, she calculated the time difference between her location and Mid-Childa. Although it was still early evening for her, it was almost ten o'clock at night back home. She knew that Nanoha was most likely still awake at that time and busy adjusting training protocols for her recruits. On Bardiche's transmitter, she selected Nanoha from her favorite contacts list. It took several seconds for the call to begin transmitting, but once it did, Raising Heart connected to Fate's device right away.

The infrared camera in Nanoha's device sensed darkness on her end and automatically turned on. Fate could see that she was already lying down in their bed for the evening. Even with the grainy resolution of the video, she could tell that Nanoha was near exhaustion.

"Fate-chan..." she greeted her quietly.

The smile that formed on her lips was sweet and sincere, and a feeling of warmth washed over Fate with the sight. This call was already so very different from the rushed communication they had together three days prior.

"Hello, Nanoha," Fate said. "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

Nanoha slowly shook her head. "No, I've just been laying here. I was thinking about you, actually."

"You were? Is Vivio in bed already?"

"Um-hmm," she replied, her voice still low. "She's pretty worn out tonight. Nove and Ginga came over to the house tonight. Nove showed her some sparring tips."

The news regarding Nanoha's evening caught Fate by complete surprise. "Wait, did you just say that _Ginga_ was there at the house?" she asked.

Nanoha hesitated before answering. "Yes, she was," she eventually replied. "I was worried about some things at Vivio's school and she helped answer them. They stayed for dinner after since they were already here."

Fate couldn't help by feel mixed emotions with the idea of Ginga helping protect her family in her absence. Even though she was grateful to her ex-partner for fulfilling her promise, she still has lingering guilt about not being there herself to protect her own daughter.

"I'm sorry, Nanoha," she apologized. "It should be me there helping protect Vivio. Not Ginga."

Nanoha's expression didn't change. She only sighed a little and met Fate's eyes on the screen. "You know that's not something you need to worry about right now," she said. "How much time do we have tonight, by the way?"

"We have all night," Fate replied. "The captain lifted the communication restrictions during liberty hours."

"Good. I needed to see you like this. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too. Is there anything you want to talk about tonight?"

A pause, and then a mischievous grin began to form on Nanoha's lips. "I don't know... Are you alone right now?"

Fate sat up in her rack and looked around to confirm that no one had walked into the room without her noticing. After ensuring she was still alone, she leaned her back against the headboard of her small cot again. "Yes, I'm alone. What's up?"

"Hmmm," Nanoha murmured. "You tell me."

Fate watched her girlfriend bring her middle finger to her mouth and lightly bit on its tip. She then raised her eyebrows in her direction and winked. Fate knew that look all to well. Her eyes grew wide and she could feel the heat begin to burn her cheeks.

"I can't do anything like that here, Nanoha," she said just above a whisper.

Nanoha giggled seductively. "Well, that's too bad, isn't it? I guess you'll just have to watch me then."

"Oh... Um, I-I think I could do that," Fate stammered.

"I'm glad to hear that. If you were here, Fate-chan... Where would you want to touch me first?" Nanoha asked.

Fate's eyes fluttered slightly. "Your stomach," she replied with an unsteady voice. With every second that passed in this conversation, she was finding it more difficult to breath.

Nanoha reached for Raising Heart floating beside her and turned the screen away from her face. Her device now showed her torso and the upper part of her legs in frame. Fate watched Nanoha slowly unbuttoned the bottom half of her pajama top to expose her abdomen.

"Here?" she asked, lightly running her fingers along stomach.

"Yes," Fate breathed out.

Her hand slowly traced the taunt lines of her abdomen first. It traveled up to unbuttoned the rest of her top next, and she pulled the lapels apart to expose her breasts. "Where else would you touch me, Fate-chan?"

"Your chest," she said. "I would touch the top of your breast next."

Her hand moved slowly until she reached her right bared breast. Fate unconsciously licked her lips as she watched her nipple grow hard under the fingertips brushing against it. Nanoha closed her eyes and leaned her head back into her pillow, focusing solely on the stimulation she was giving herself.

"You should do it harder," Fate suggested next. Nanoha grabbed her breast with her hand and caressed it. A moan escaped her lips, a sound that echoed sweetly in Fate's ears.

"More..." she heard Nanoha murmur. "I want more, Fate-chan..."

Fate gripped the sheets on her bed in her hands. "Now both."

Nanoha did as she was instructed and grabbed both her breasts in her hands. Fate could see body beginning to rock back and forth on the bed, her legs twisting just out of frame. The overwhelming urge to touch her own self took over. Fate groaned as she pinched her own nipple between her fingers, a sound Nanoha's body reacted to even more.

"Fa...cha..." she gasped. Her right hand traveled back down her body until it reached the waistband of her pajama bottoms.

"Do you want to?" Fate asked her.

"Please, I want to..." she begged. "I need to. Please..."

Fate could hardly breathe. "Touch yourself, Nanoha."

Nanoha moved her hand into her pants below her underwear and moaned loudly. Fate watched fixated as her hand stroked while the other continued to still fondle her breast. She soon began to tremble and shake, a sign that she was close to climaxing.

"I need... to..." she begged.

"Show me, Nanoha. I want to hear you when you come."

Every muscle tensed and her back arched, the request sending her over the edge. Involuntary cries of pleasure escaped her throat with every wave. Fate witnessed her through all of it, motionless. Breathless. Satisfaction lay beyond any sort of physical release for her. She had given Nanoha what she could with the distance between them, and their shared connection comforted her. Fulfilled her.

While Nanoha attempted to calm herself, she turned Raising Heart's screen back show her face again. Although she looked completely drained and exhausted, there was also an air of peace surrounding her now. Fate couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"You should get some sleep."

Nanoha shook her head a little and closed her eyes. "No, I don't want you to go..." she said quietly.

"I won't," Fate assured her. "I'm promise, I'll stay right here with you all night."

"Okay..." she nodded, her voice just above a whisper. "I love you, Fate-chan. You make everything... better..."

Fate laid down in her rack and placed Bardiche on the bed beside her. She could see that Nanoha's breathing had slowed, indicating that she had already fallen asleep.

"I love you too, Nanoha..."

**oOOOo**

Fate awoke to the sound of the door banging loudly against the wall. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, perhaps a few hours at most. She looked at Bardiche's screen and found Nanoha still sleeping peacefully. Fate pressed the mute button so that no noise could be heard on her end and wake her. When she sat up in her rack, she found Teana standing in the middle of their shared room. She looked to be in a panic, her eyes darting all around the room.

"Teana..?" Fate groaned, her head still foggy. "What's going on?"

"Have you seen Subaru?"

"I'm sorry, I haven't," she replied. "I've been asleep this whole time."

Teana became more distressed. "We were supposed to meet up to call her family together after dinner, but she disappeared. I can't contact Mach Caliber either."

"What do you mean? That's not possible." Fate grabbed Bardiche from beside her on the bed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. After closing the transmission with Nanoha, she pulled Subaru up in her contacts list. She pressed the '_Ping_' button several times, and each time she received an error message back claiming the device was offline.

Teana covered her mouth with her hand and paced the floor anxiously. "This can't be happening..." she whispered.

Fate jumped out of bed and put her shoes on as fast as she could. "When was the last time you saw her?" she asked.

"Fifteen minutes ago. Maybe a little more?" Teana responded with uncertainty. "She just said she had to use the restroom."

"Let's go talk to the captain right now," Fate said.

The two raced out the door and climbed the nearby stairwell towards the bridge of the ship. When they burst through the doorway and entered the large room, the captain stood from her seat on the second tier. She recognized the look of panic on both of their faces.

"Yes? What is it, Enforcer Harlaown?"

Fate stood directly in front of her on the lower level. "Captain, we need to muster everybody immediately," she announced. "One of our team members is missing."

* * *

**A/N:** It looks like I have about three months left of school here at the naval base I'm stationed at. Once I get to my next duty station, I'll probably have more time and can update my stories more frequently. I do want to return to my older stories at some point to finish them. That's my hope, at least!

Until next time, take care of yourselves and be safe! ~Nissanity~


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